A locally-created traveling exhibit at the Gilmore Car Museum highlights the history of Black women motorists in the 20th century, and features historical photos of women and their cars alongside modern-day recreations.
One photo shows a black-and-white image of a woman in the 1910s or 20s sitting on the fender of a Buick.
Next to it is a nearly-identical photo, this time in color. It was taken at the museum using one of the many historic cars in Gilmore's collection. It also features a member of the Merze Tate Explorers, which organized the exhibit.
"For the past almost 20 years, we've been teaching girls how to use media in life for careers and to interview amazing people. This exhibition is one of our projects to bring multimedia projects to life with history and cars," Merze Tate Explorers founder and executive director Sonya Hollins said.
According to Hollins, the group is made up of young Black women, ranging from 5th graders to those in college, from Kalamazoo and Calhoun Counties.
She said the Explorers not only recreated the historic images, but also researched the eras they came from to make a series of videos for the exhibit.
"It's not just, 'we're having fun taking pictures at the Gilmore Car Museum.' We're learning about the history that was going on during the times these particular cars that they're taking pictures in were around in United States."
This research can also be seen on several displays covering each era.
“What were Black women's wages compared to white women and white men? What was life like for Black women during that time? What kind of jobs did Black women have? These girls research all the information to put on those panels. So, when people come, they're learning about Black women in a whole different way,” Hollins said.
Cosmetologist Cataanda James did the Explorers’ hair and makeup for the recreations, reproducing styles ranging from the 1910s to the 1990s.
"I think once they got into the photo shoot and the clothes and the hair and the makeup, they did realize, 'Okay, these are actually human people, it wasn't dinosaur times,'" James said.
“They were able to connect those dots and then realize, 'Hey, this is not as old as we thought it was. It's really cool. They were really cool then like we're really cool now.' And a lot of them look to these women as role models because they have very prestigious jobs and they've done amazing things.”
Beyond the research and recreations, Sonya Hollins said the exhibit also shows just how impactful car ownership was for Black women in the 20th century.
"Having a car is freedom. It is power. And so for African American women to be able to to do that, it wasn't just like, 'you have to depend on your husband to make sure you're where you need to go,'" Hollins said.
"Having a car was more than just driving around, having fun. It was, 'this car is going to give me mobility. It's going to give me freedom. It's going to give me economic power. It's going to give me status in my community.'"
Hollins added that this freedom and mobility came into play during the Montgomery bus boycott.
“People who had cars were able to say, ‘We'll take these people to work. We don't have to use the bus.’ That gave them economic power. That gave them the freedom to move about and make a difference and make change in that way.”
The exhibit runs through September 30. After that, it will be featured at Battle Creek's Willard Library branch downtown from October 5 through October 31.
