Iowa African American Hall of Fame looks for new home
A Des Moines woman wants to help better preserve Iowa's Black history.
The Iowa African American Hall of Fame was founded in the early 1990s to honor and recognize Black Iowans who have made significant contributions to the state. The Hall of Fame has been inactive for years due to changing hands.
Since its inception in 1995, including politicians, journalists and others who have "enhanced the lives of Iowans." A number of different people and entities have once held custodianship of it, including the Black Cultural Center at Iowa State University in the early 2000s. The center has since dissolved and its new curator is stepping in to bring it new life.
"I just feel like we're just living in such a time where you start to feel like you're being erased," said Dwana Bradley about African American culture. "When you don't understand the value of the work that we've done and our place in history, and you continue to weaponize us for our history or even trying to tell it does make me feel like that we're trying to just be pushed to the back."
Right now, Hall of Fame inductees are only displayed on a website, but Bradley would like to see a more permanent display within a physical space. She is currently exploring options in Des Moines but says she dreams of the capitol city having a Black cultural center.
"I think it's important, and it's my goal to make sure that we get a place where we can have those who are inducted into our African American Hall of Fame have a place where they live, a building where you can go to, where you can take our young people," Bradley said.
The Iowa African American Hall of Fame is not funded or commissioned by the state. However, Governor Kim Reynolds signed a bill in 2024 eliminating the Commission on the Status of African Americans and several other boards that helped recognize the achievements of underrepresented and marginalized groups. Those groups are now all represented under the Department of Health and Human Services.
An induction ceremony is planned for October. You can .
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