Work on a new Black history museum in York expected to begin next year

Crispus Attucks York African American History & Lecture Center is getting $4 million from the state.

• Gabriela Martínez/WITF
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 PA Cast

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf greeting Robert Simpson of Crispus Attucks. Governor Tom Wolf visited the future site of the Crispus Attucks York African American History & Lecture Center which received a $4 million state investment through the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) in downtown York. York, PA – February 25, 2022

(York)-Crispus Attucks, a community-based nonprofit in York, is getting $4 million from the state to help fund a new African American history center.

The building will cost an estimated $8 million and will be built on the Crispus Attucks community center’s campus near the center of York. The groundbreaking ceremony for the history center is slated for 2023.

The three-story museum will feature exhibitions, guided tours and lectures on York’s African American history. Aside from showcasing undertold stories from the city’s Black community, the center aims to serve as a space for dialogue on race. 

PA Cast

Kelly Summerford, Crispus Attucks York speaks with the press. Governor Tom Wolf visited the future site of the Crispus Attucks York African American History & Lecture Center which received a $4 million state investment through the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) in downtown York. York, PA – February 25, 2022

“This center will be a place where we can join together and talk about the issues that have divided York for decades,” said Crispus Attucks CEO Robert Simpson. “Even if we don’t agree, we can commit to understanding each other.”

York historians, nonprofit leaders and Governor Tom Wolf gathered at the future site of the center on Friday to celebrate the effort. 

The project “will bring together a community that’s been divided over happenings of the past,”  Wolf said. Visitors can experience York’s history, and “it will provide the opportunity to hold conversations about the city’s complex past and a chance to move forward, better, together.”

Some of that history includes riots in 1969 during which two people were killed and dozens injured.

“When others are tasked with telling the African American stories, they also get to determine the narrative and how much or how little of the truth they want to include,” said Kelly Summerford, Manager, Goodridge Freedom Center, Underground Railroad, which is also part of Crispus Attucks. “Imagine this, African Americans finally seeing themselves through their own lens.”

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