The traveling exhibit, “Charting Our Path: Celebrating 50 years of Black studies,” from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, will share both the triumphs and turbulent history of one of the oldest Black studies departments in the nation.

The exhibit will be on display on the second floor of Love Library North until Dec. 2.

This four-panel exhibit shares historical snapshots of one of the oldest Black studies departments in the nation, highlighting debates over curriculum, attempts to downgrade the department to a program and the mutual engagement between campus and community. The banners share archival materials such as newspaper clippings, department documents and photos, chronicling events from the 1969 campus sit-in to the celebration of the “Omaha 54” student activists 52 years later.

The history of the Department of Black Studies had been characterized by constant struggle for survival, but also by the enduring engagement and support of Omaha’s Black community. Learn about the civil rights origins of the department, battles for legitimacy in the eyes of the university, the role of the Omaha chapter of the NAACP in the department’s survival and much more.

This traveling display is a variation of the “Charting our Path: Celebrating 50 Years of Black Studies (1971-2021)” exhibit. The exhibit is open to the public during regular library hours.