Welcome to:
“Forgotten Images: The Virtual Experience”
Until September 30, 2022
MOLAA is pleased to host this virtual presentation of “Forgotten Images: A Traveling Exhibit and Museum” as part of our 2022 Afro-Latinx Heritage Festival, sponsored by the Port of Long Beach.
David and Sharon McLucas are the owners and curators of Forgotten Images, an exhibition that features thousands of lost and forgotten artifacts that span over two centuries of the African American experience in America. After spending nearly 20 years amassing a personal collection of Black History artifacts, the couple has taken their memorabilia on the road with an enormous responsibility; “We are standing on the shoulders of our ancestors, and we want everyone to see how far we've come."
Previously featured at schools, churches, and community events throughout Southern California, the Forgotten Images exhibit is home to more than 20,000 items from about 1600-2011. There are more than 30 themed vignettes including sports memorabilia, military items, literature, theater posters, music, dolls, Cook Chicken Inn era materials, Civil Rights Era documents, Ku Klux Klan propaganda, and an extensive collections of Aunt Jemima memorabilia. Taken as a whole, these objects highlight a significant part of African American history, both positive and negative, with the aim of instilling a sense of knowledge, awareness, and responsibility in everyone who encounters the exhibit.
Now for the first time ever, with support from MOLAA’s Department of Museum Content and Programming, this material is available for consideration in a virtual space. We hope that by digitizing and recording the life-long work of the McLucas family, we will extend their mission, and open doors to new and renewed audiences. The goal of this project is to serve as a tool of empowerment regarding African American History, and to act as an accessible, and constant reminder of the triumphs and success of African Americans.
With this in mind, MOLAA is pleased to welcome you to “Forgotten Images: The Virtual Experience.”
Special Note About Content and Presentation
In order to capture the unique power and impact that oral histories have to offer, MOLAA has designed this experience to be as closely aligned with the principles and mission of the “Forgotten Images” project as originally conceived by the McLucas family. That is to say, we are also committed to instill in each viewer, an awareness of the past and a sense of responsibility for the future.
What this means is that from time to time during your virtual visit, you may encounter triggering images and language related to the oppression and struggle of the African American community in the United States. You will also see historical objects, which recall very specific moments in history, represented in different ways, and discussed in a contemporary narrative informed by research, popular culture, and also, personal and collective memory. We have not censored or changed any of this. It is not our place. MOLAA holds this space here for critical reflection, and to ensure our collective histories and responsibilities to that past, are not forgotten.
How to Navigate this Space
In order to navigate our Matterport Virtual Space, please click on the tour link below and you will be dropped into the floor plan at the entry point for that space. It may be useful to click the “view full screen” icon in the lower right corner of the scan image. The “Help” menu icon, also in the lower right, will open a screen with “Navigation” instructions, and “More Help” gives more explanation the features of the Matterport platform.
To move through the space with your mouse, click on the screen to move or “walk” around, click and drag to shift your view or “look” around. You can use your scroll function to focus your view larger or smaller. If you prefer to navigate using a keyboard, the up and down arrows move you forward and back, the left and right arrows shift your view, and the plus and minus keys focus in and out. The Matterport site can also assist you with other navigating options.
The white circles on the floor signify perspectives from which you can move. The embedded links throughout the space, called Mattertags, tell a more detailed story. Click on or hover over the tags to expand a text box and view images, video, and external links.
This event is part of the 2022 MOLAA Afro-Latinx Festival presented by The Port of Long Beach.