Museum PR Announcements News and Information

National Underground Railroad Freedom Center brings My Dear Wife, I Love You and other exhibits online with the Google Cultural Institute

Museum Participating in National Launch of Black History, Arts and Culture Collection

CINCINNATI, OH (February 1, 2016) – Starting today, over 25 new artifacts from the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center can be viewed online by people around the world due to a new partnership between the Google Cultural Institute and the museum. Thanks to the new virtual exhibition, My Dear Wife, I Love You, users will be able to view personal letters and photographs from Cincinnati native Charles Lewis, who served in a segregated unit of the Army Air Corps in World War II, and many other treasures from the museum in just a few clicks at g.co/blackhistory.

Other specially curated virtual exhibits of have been developed for online visitors as well, including A Slave Pen Journey and Rachel At Longwood. Each of these online interactive exhibits available via Google Cultural Institute were curated by the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

Some of the most important items of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center’s latest online exhibition, My Dear Wife, I Love You, include:
Mr. Lewis’ first letter to his wife, Garnetta Lewis, describing the camp where he was stationed, Mississippi and the racism he encounters there.
A letter from Garnetta to Charles describing her dismay over the sudden death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Only a few of Garnetta’s letters to her husband survived the war and the years of storage after the war.
Personal photographs of Mr. Lewis’ service experience, including aircraft, travels and with other soldiers.
“At the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center we bring the stories of freedom’s heroes to life on the museum floor, through our programming and online,” says President Dr. Clarence G. Newsome. “We are pleased to include Mr. Lewis’ story in today’s national launch and partner with the Google Cultural Institute’s Black History, Arts and Culture collection.”

From the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra to the historical records of Frederick Douglass and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Google Cultural Institute’s Black History, Arts and Culture collection includes 26 new partners (50 overall) contributing 4,000+ items and more than 80 exhibits.

“Artworks, artifacts and archives have the power not only to give a story life, but to encourage action and incite change,” says Valeisha Butterfield Jones, Google’s Head of Black Community Engagement. “That’s why the Google Cultural Institute is excited to add these records, bringing together important archives from Black history for anyone to access not only during Black History Month, but throughout the year.”

To learn more about Google Cultural Institute’s Black History, Arts and Culture collection visit g.co/blackhistory. To learn more about the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center visit freedomcenter.org