'HistoryMakers' seeks to chronicle African American experience

CHICAGO (WLS) -- She started the project 14 years ago at her dining room table. Now, Julieanna Richardson's quest to preserve black history is getting a boost on the national level.

This week, the Library of Congress announced it acquired her thousands of hours of video interviews with people who define the black experience in America. Richardson told Eyewitness News how she's leaving a legacy for future generations.

"I wasn't really focused on running for office per se. I was more interested as I said in helping to build an agenda for the African-American community," said President Barack Obama.

As a young Illinois state senator, Barack Obama details his beginnings in politics, while "Mr. Cub" Ernie Banks talks about entering the majors.

"When I came to the majors, I kind of felt nobody really liked me," said Banks.

They are just two of 2,600 African Americans who have recorded their experiences through an archival project called "The HistoryMakers." It's the brainchild of Harvard law school graduate Julieanna Richardson.

"I got to a time when people were thinking about leaving a legacy. I was 40. I didn't have kids. Wanted my life to stand for something more than myself and out came this wonderfully rich project," said Richardson.

Richardson wanted to make sure the African American experience was documented through those who were both well-known and unsung.

"In the last two weeks we've lost four of our HistoryMakers: Dr. Maya Angelou, Dr. Vincent Harding, Ruby Dee, and Chicago's very own Sam Greenlee who authored "The Spook Who Sat by the Door." But here they live on forever," said Richardson.

Beginning this week, the first-person video history lessons will become a part of the nation's archives, permanently preserved in the Library of Congress.

"The thing that really sort of brought me to tears the other day was the thought that the largest collection of African American first-person stories up until the time that we came along were the slave narratives, the WPA Slave Narratives. We're the largest since then. What I just consider magical and wanna pinch myself is that now their twined under one roof," said Richardson.

Richardson says "The HistoryMakers" will remain Chicago-based. She is trying to raise funds to complete 5,000 interviews. When she hits that goal, she says she'll add her own story to the collection.

For more information:

http://www.thehistorymakers.com/

http://www.idvl.org/thehistorymakers