♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >>> IT STARTED IN CLEVELAND, OHIO.

BUT FROM COLUMBUS, IT ALSO SPREAD TO CINCINNATI AND MANY OTHER CITIES HERE IN OHIO.

>> THERE WERE LOCATIONS IN DAYTON, AKRON, YOUNGSTOWN, SANDUSKY, TOLEDO.

THERE WERE AT LEAST NINE DIFFERENT LOCATIONS.

THEY OPENED OFFICES IN MAY OF 1962 AT 1102 EAST LONG STREET.

IN THE COMMUNITY AND SPOKE OF POSITIVE INFLUENCES IN THIS COMMUNITY, SUCH AS EAST HIGH SCHOOL, SO MANY GREAT ACADEMICS AND ATHLETICS THAT TOOK PLACE THERE.

AND HE WAS HEAVILY COMMITTED TO SHARING THE POSITIVITY OF THIS COMMUNITY.

DIDN'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT A LOT OF THE NEGATIVE THINGS GOING ON.

HE WANTED TO SHED LIGHT ON THE GREATNESS OF THE NEAR EAST SIDE, AND ALL AFRICAN AMERICANS HERE IN CENTRAL OHIO.

>> WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS THE -- WHAT WE WOULD CALL THE PHOTO MORGUE.

SO THESE ARE, AS FAR AS WE KNOW, ALL OF THE IMAGES FROM THE NEWSPAPER, STARTING AS FAR BACK AS 1962, AND UP THROUGH 1995.

SO WE HAVE YEARS OF AMAZING IMAGES OF THE COMMUNITY AND FOR A DECADE THAT WE DON'T HAVE A RECORD OF THE NEWSPAPER, WE DO NOT HAVE MICROFILM OR PHYSICAL COPIES FROM 1962 THROUGH 1972, NO ONE DOES.

SO THESE PHOTOS ARE ALL WE HAVE LEFT OF THAT TIME PERIOD.

THE PROCESS IS WHERE THE PARTNER OF THE KINGS ART COMPLEX TO HELP THEM DIJTIZE THESE PHOTOS AND GET THEM ONLINE.

SO WE'LL COME OVER AND PICK UP PHOTOS AND THEY ARE IN THESE ENVELOPES STILL, AS THEY WERE FROM WHEN THEY WERE USED FOR THE NEWSPAPER.

SO WE'LL ACTUALLY STILL SEE THEM IN THE ENVELOPES.

THEY'VE GOT THE DATE ON THE SIDE.

WE'LL JUST PICK UP A WHOLE DRAWER OF THESE AND TAKE THEM BACK TO THE LIBRARY.

WE'RE NOT ONLY HELPING TO GET THEM ONLINE SO MORE PEOPLE HAVE ACCESS, BUT GET THEM IN TO PRESERVE THEM FOR THE FUTURE.

SO ALL OF THIS ONE HAS AN ISSUE OF A NEWSPAPER IN IT, AS WELL.

WHAT DATE IS THAT NEWSPAPER?

>> THIS NEWSPAPER IS SATURDAY, MARCH 27th, 1976.

>> THIS MIGHT BE FROM THE 7th AFFIRMATION.

>> THIS IS HISTORY.

FIRST TIME SEEN SINCE 1976.

>> THIS IS A PHOTO OF HIS WIFE, DR. WILLIAMS, AND ANNA BISHOP.

SOME OF THE EARLIER ONES, THERE WAS A STAMP ON THE BACK OF THE PHOTO.

BUT THESE HAVE THE TAGS TAPED ONTO THEM, AND THEY TELL US THE SMALL CAPTION FOR THE PHOTO.

AND THEN TELLS US THE SIZE OF THE ORIGINALS, WHAT SECTION AND PAGE OF THE NEWSPAPER IT WOULD BE ON, AND THEN THE DATE FOR THE NEWSPAPER THAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN PRINTED IN.

HE WAS A FANTASTIC COLUMBUS PHOTOGRAPHER, AND HE AND HIS WIFE, DR. WILLIAMS, THEY STARTED THE AFRO FAIR, THEY DID SO MUCH FOR THE BLACK COMMUNITY.

HE WAS INTEGRAL AT MAKING SURE BLACK ARTISTS COULD GET THEIR WORK OUT AND GET RECOGNITION FOR WHAT THEY HAVE DONE WHEN OTHER GALLERIES WERE NOT WILLING TO SHOW BLACK ART.

COURTESY PRACTICE.

>> ARCHIE GRIFFIN'S GRADUATION PHOTO.

>> OH, MY GOSH.

>> FROM THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY.

WHAT A TREASURE.

>> EVERY TIME YOU OPEN UP AN ENVELOPE FROM THE COLUMBUS COLUMN POST, THERE'S JUST SO MANY AMAZING GEMS.

>> LOOK AT THIS.

>> YOU RECOGNIZE HOW MANY PEOPLE -- OH, YEAH.

YOU CAN SEE, THIS IS THE IMAGE.

>> FROM PHOTO TO NEWSPAPER.

>> AND YOU CAN SEE THE MARKS ON MANY OF THE PHOTOS TO SHOW HOW THEY WERE GOING TO CROP IT AND HOW IT WOULD LOOK IN THE NEWSPAPER.

>> FOR YEARS, YOU KNOW, NO ONE'S HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO FULLY GO THROUGH EACH PHOTO.

SO WE'RE SO HAPPY TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO SO NOW.

>> AGAIN, WE DON'T HAVE THE NEWSPAPERS FOR THE FIRST DECADE OF THE NEWSPAPER.

SO THE LIBRARY IS LOOKING FOR ANY HELP THAT PEOPLE HAVE IDENTIFYING WHO PEOPLE ARE IN SOME OF THESE PHOTOGRAPHS.

MOST OF THE TIME, ALL WE HAVE IS THE INFORMATION ON THESE TAGS HERE, WHICH OFTEN DON'T NAME THE PEOPLE IN THE PHOTOGRAPHS.

AND THIS WAS ACTUALLY WHEN SOME OFFICERS WERE BEING INSTALLED FOR THE MT.

VERNON DISTRICT IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION, AND RIGHT HERE IN FRONT, WE HAVE EDNA, WHO WAS A FLORIST IN THE COMMUNITY FOR DECADES.

SHE WAS INTEGRAL TO GETTING THE MT.

VERNON AREA THE WAY THAT IT WAS, THE THRIVING BUSINESS COMMUNITY THAT IT WAS.

SHE WAS A PART OF THE SMALL BUSINESS ASSOCIATION, AS WELL.

SHE WAS ON THEIR ADVISORY COUNCIL AT ONE POINT.

SHE'S AN AMAZING COMMUNITY LEADER, AND WE SEE HER HERE WITH OTHER OFFICERS BEING INSTALLED FOR THE 1970 MT.

VERNON IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION.

WE ALSO HAVE THIS ONE HERE, WHICH IS ACTUALLY THE TRIVET BUILDING.

WHAT I THOUGHT WAS INTERESTING ABOUT THIS, YOU CAN SEE THE OFFICE FOR PIERCE AND SON FLORIST AND PHOTO STUDIO, WHICH IS ONE OF THE MOST PROMINENT PHOTOGRAPHER FOR THE COLUMBUS COLUMN POST.

SO MANY OF THESE PHOTOS WILL THEM.

AND THEN WE ALSO GOT THIS GREAT PARADE PHOTOS.

THIS WAS AN ELKS PARADE.

YOU CAN SEE THIS IS ON EAST MAIN STREET, CLOSE TO, I THINK, MILLER AVENUE AND MAIN.

YOU CAN SEE SEVERAL BUSINESSES HERE, AND I BELIEVE THIS WAS AT 1432 EAST MAIN STREET.

>> THOSE WERE ICONIC LANDMARKS, BUT THESE ARE FORGOTTEN STORES AND RESTAURANTS.

THE PHOTOS ALLOW THEM TO LIVE ON FOREVER.

>> THESE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE ONES THAT WE ALREADY DIGITIZED, SO WE CHANGED THEM OVER FROM THOSE ENVELOPES TO THESE FOLDERS.

YES, WITH EACH PHOTO, ESPECIALLY THIS ONE WHERE WE HAVE BUSINESSES CLEARLY SHOWN IN THE PHOTO, WE WILL DO OUR RESEARCH IN THE COLUMBUS COLUMN POST, BECAUSE IT IS FULLY ONLINE AND RESEARCHABLE.

WE WILL LOOSE USE CITY DIRECTORIES AND OTHER RESOURCES TO HELP US LEARN WHAT BUSINESSES THESE ARE, HOW LONG THEY WERE THERE, AND GIVE US MORE INFORMATION.

WE ACTUALLY HAVE OVER 4,000 IMAGES ALREADY DIGITIZED AND ONLINE FOR THE KING ARTS COMPLEX COLLECTION.

THIS ONE HERE IS SPECIAL TO ME.

IT WAS ONE OF THE FIRST ONES THAT WE FOUND AND HAVE A CELEBRITY IN IT.

IT HAS MUHAMMAD ALI, AND WE CAN SEE HIM HERE IN THE BACK OF THE PHOTO.

HE'S TAKING JUST A GROUP PICTURE WITH LOCAL KIDS IN THE AREA.

IT'S ACTUALLY FROM SEPTEMBER -- LATE SEPTEMBER, EARLY OCTOBER OF 1968, AND WE KNOW THAT THIS IS WHEN MUHAMMAD ALI WAS BEING ACCUSED OF DRAFT DODGING, AND HE WAS ACTUALLY IN COLUMBUS BECAUSE HE WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE A BOXING EXPEDITION.

BUT THE COLUMBUS BOXING AND WRESTLING COMMISSION DENIED HIM THE PERMITS HE NEEDED TO BOX HERE.

AND THE MAYOR SAID THAT THEY DO NOT WANT SOMEONE WHO IS A DRAFT DODGER HERE IN COLUMBUS.

SO WE CAN SEE THE JUXTAPOSITION OF HIM BEING HERE AND SPENDING TIME WITH THE COMMUNITY AND THE KIDS AND TAKING THE PHOTO WITH THEM, AND THEN APPEARING IN THE COLUMBUS COLUMN POST VERSUS WHAT WAS HAPPENING AROUND THIS TIME AND THE COVERAGE WE WERE SEEING.

WHILE THERE'S STILL A VERSION OF THE COLUMN POST BEING PUBLISHED NOW DIGITALLY, THE VERSION THAT HE WAS INVOLVED IN KIND OF CAME TO A HEAD IN 1995, WHICH IS WHEN AMOS LYNCH LEFT THE COLUMN POST AND STARTED "THE COLUMBUS POST."

>> I WOULD SAY HE WAS A VISIONARY.

FOR HIM TO BESTOW UPON THE KING ARTS COMPLEX ALL OF THE PHOTOS THAT WE HAVE TO DISPLAY IS JUST THE BEAUTY OF HIM MAKING SURE THAT THE HISTORY LIVES ON FOREVER.

BECAUSE THE PHOTOS, EVEN THOUGH PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY WERE GOING THROUGH SOME TOUGH TIMES, YOU SEE A LOT OF LOVE.

YOU SEE A LOT OF HAPPINESS.

YOU SEE A LOT OF COMMUNITY TOGETHERNESS, WHICH IS MORE NEEDED TODAY MORE THAN EVER.