Announcer: The views and opinions expressed in To The Point are those of the host of the program and its guests.

They do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of WGTE Public Media.

Doni: Ask any long term Toledoan about the Old Dorr Street and you'll hear words like amazing, empowering pride, entrepreneurial and fun.

This nine block are was home to almost 80 businesses providing any servic a vibrant community could want.

Grocery stores, physicians offices, beauty supply, and barbershops all were examples of ho a community of bright, ambitious people focused on achieving economic independence and caring for their neighbor would thrive if given a chance.

If you've driven down Dorr Street since 1979, you know that the Old Door Street is gone.

But can this historic neighborhood be revitalized?

I'm Robert Smith, curator and founder of the African American Legacy Project, thinks so and challenges you to do the same.

Mr. Smith is our guest today as we reimagine the possibilities of Door Street.

I'm Doni Miller, and welcome To The Point... Connect with us on our social media pages.

You know that.

You can always email me at doni_miller@t.org.

And for this episod and any other additional extras, go to wgte.org/to the point.

Thank you Thank you for joining us today.

We have the honor and the pleasure of talking to my friend Robert Smith who is the curator and founder of the African American Legacy Project, here in town.

Wonderful, wonderful collection of years worth of gathering, all of those things that reflect the history of African Americans in, Toledo.

He is the only one doing this work.

It is amazing work.

It is important work.

Thank you, thank you thank you for what you're doing.

So despite the, the little intro I've given our friends who are watching us today, would you tell people a little more about the project?

Robert: Oh, This project.

It really obviously dear to me.

It's been 20 years that since we started this, we noticed that there wa a deficit of information about many of the people who are from contributed to the entire community, not jus the African American community.

And we said on that journe to 20 years ago to begin that, we called a couple of people and they agreed.

And before you know, it, so many more people joined us to, offering information, images.

And we started doing interviews and, and next thing you know, we had a collection of over 6000 images and, people telling stories and, reliving moments and envisioning other moments, let's say.

Doni: Yeah.

Robert: So so the African American Legacy project is very simply, simply our time.

But it's more than that.

It's, it's reflects the spirit of a community.

And I think that, we, we as, as those of us directly involved feel.

And every time someone walks in, we notice when we get a wow and we get lots of wow, get.

Doni: Lots of wow.

Right?

So but why is it important?

I mean, why is it important to have a place and I' going to ask you to tell folks exactly where you're located in just a moment.

But why is it important to have a place that's dedicated to this kind of collection?

Robert: So, simply, this collection really focuses on that experience.

And absent that experience, the legacy would not be, place generations would not know.

I mean, even right now, if you talk to a young man or woman under the age of 35, they have not a clue about the Dorr Street business district that people did own and operate businesses that did that.

There were people of certain ilk, and more importantly is that that we never forget the contributions that people have made in general to the city of Toledo.

Doni: Yeah.

Don't you think to that tha being surrounded by your history fills helped shape who you become?

I do.

Robert You know, recently we bought we, we do a sports legends group and yes, first week of Black Histor Month, we, we did a connecting the generations between young men and women.

Sports people who and people who are members of sports that played sports.

And the room just melted.

Doni: No kidding.

Robert: The kids were just, we were just, they began to understand.

I mean, truly, clearly the only guy who has, in see to everything kind of a talk to the kids.

I mean, you know tell them about the challenges.

I mean.

Doni: Great.

Robert: They were glue.

And then at the end, we did the Miss Audrey Johnson, you know, Arts Artspace, and there's so many the kids are, like, totally engrossed.

The little kids as well as the big kids.

So, so so it's a place where, you know, you can exercise and feel comfortable about exploring who you are, your culture, and, really understanding and wanting to share that with the, the widest audience possible.

What this is another this is not a selfish perspective.

We want people to know and understand.

Doni: Because it's important.

It's important to understand each other's culture.

It's important to understand each other's history.

Robert: Absolutely.

I mean, we, you know, I, I'm excited because now we're reaching further a wider, wider, wider and wider audiences.

I mean, not this year.

Last year we're good at Bowling Green, even recently, an attorney, a pretty popular attorney named Jay Slater Gibson.

Doni: Yes.

Robert: We had an attorney call us recently and talking about my wife.

Well, the two office shares that set and Slater Gibson's office.

Would you like them?

Doni: What?

Yeah.

Robert: Yeah, what?

I like that, you know.

So, for them to find this, we another one?

Someone, found the wedding album.

J Frank Curry.

Wow.

And Mr. to them.

Doni: Wow.

Robert: I got a wow.

Doni: Wow.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

Robert: And, and, and, swap meet and this lady, oh, Caucasian just said made an effort to find us.

So we made an effort to find the family.

So we have we haven't done a collection, but we made sure that we duplicated for those family members who wanted to.

But, Mr. Choi, in 1957, we got we got an invitation out of that where he was invited to the white House by Dwight D Eisenhower and, the vice president the was Richard Milhous Nixon, talks about 1956, 1957.

He was a man of community, almost remembers, really, but doesn't know and doesn't know intimately.

And so for me, I'm thinking in 1956 how this man navigate.

But if I think about Mr. J. Frank Troy in those ways, I really had to think about how Miss Ella P Stewart became Miss Ella P Stewart.

Doni: Right.

Robert: And so we want the community to understand that, amongst all of us, there are people who have magic.

Doni: Oh, there's such a lovely way to put it.

Yeah, yeah, lovely way to put it.

And, and I wish we had time to really talk about in detail, Ella Stewar and Frank Troy and Slater Gibson so people would understand why their presence is so everlasting, is everlasting in this community.

But what you do is make it possible for people to go back and spend time with those images, with those stories, are you still recording stories?

Robert: Oh, absolutely.

We are actually we are challenge.

Right now, my next slide, because, Mrs. Lear had done a high it's because of her husband.

This also because of Lear.

Doni: It's pretty formidable.

Robert: Honor, but it's also because of her mom, who, was an educator like Mrs. Down High.

But she also helped for the first cotillion.

African-American.

I tell you, when the kids we go to the house full force, all the guys would be standing outside.

And her mom didn't play with me.

Right.

So, you know, so, Mrs. Dunn.

She's just she was she was at a recent event for us, and she tapped me on the shoulder, but I'm I'm.

I'm ready.

Oh, I'm ready to, you know.

So, yeah, we're still doin every day, every chance we get.

We're documenting demonstrate the fact we've writte absolutely great stories about, from people who experience stories from different perspectives from the professional community to the people who experience a night life.

It's all important.

One of our founding board members, Doctor Helen Cook, said, when we first started, she said, don't forget, make sure you document everyone.

And that's been a mantra.

We make sure we grab the stories and begin to mold them, because when you do that you begin to connect the dots.

And so we've been connecting the dots for a while.

And there's joy.

Doni: Joy, joy.

That is exactly what I felt when I every time I continue to see, every time I see an article about discussions around, reinventing Dorr Street I mean, that's a massive task.

And we're going to talk about that just in a little bit because I want to really spend some time on it.

But we should tell people that the project is open for everybody to come in and say, you know.

Robert: Absolutely.

We're positioned very, very well.

We're at the corne of Collingwood and Door Street.

What we come up for, exit 205 be, which is the same exit that you would take to the museum.

And we're sitting right there for people say, 1326 Collingwood.

What happens is and and you know what?

Oddly enough, because we're I 75, we get a lot of travelers and visitors.

And you know what we figured out?

We welcome them.

If there's an automobile problem.

Hey, would you like to be the rational one kind of helping?

And we're building relationships.

And, you know, I think that, you know, I think that any good steward would do the same.

And so we want to be good stewards and be well represent our community from that position.

Doni: Yeah.

And what a great teaching moment.

If somebody comes in for something else and then they get to see all that wonderful stuff you have and, and they hang out and they learn a little bit, we're going to go away.

But you'll stay with me and talk about Door Street.

We're going away for just a second, but stay with us.

Doni: Hey welcome back.

We are talking in this segment with Robert Smith, who is the curator and the founder of th African-American Legacy Project.

We were just about to g into one of my favorite topics because I think tha this is an amazing opportunity for the city, not only to celebrate the history of Dorr Street, but to give it the histori importance that it so deserves.

I, I was unfortunate in that I moved here just as Dorr Street was going away, so most of the stuff that I am learning about Dorr Street, which just makes me feel sad about having missed the strength of that community at that time and the vibrance of that community at that time.

I mean, I'm thrilled to see that people like you are bringing that conversation back and challenging people to not talk about what can't be done on Dorr Street, but talk about how what you want to get done will get done on Dorr Street.

Why is it important to you this conversation?

Robert: Kno there are a lot of reasons why.

I think the first and most important reason is purely economic for me is probably.

That's not me.

I don't know.

I'll put that's anatomy and culture of the city.

Doni: Close together.

Robert: Let's go together.

Culture.

Culture.

It speaks to who I am.

Who the people who raised me, who educated me, who embraced an entire community.

I mean, in that North Street area, I mean.

Every professional person lived there.

It was it was incredible.

So you, you know, I think you see a sense of community, but the expression is, is that.

I knew nothing differentl in that it was part of my DNA.

Street is part of my DNA, part of the DNA, the DNA of people of my age and older.

Who?

Those who are still with us.

I mean, it's just incredible.

You can say Dorr Street, and you may think people are romanticizing it.

Yeah, to some degree.

But in news I think things like actuality, it was absolutely proof.

Evidence, men and wome who owned businesses or worked in businesses.

I don't think so, Mister Jim Billups, who, fixed all apply.

I mean, in the 60s, I think that there was an African-American male who repaired, appliances but also had a full display.

I mean, I'm was a level.

Oh, wow.

Well, that happened, you know but just you can go all through.

Oh, through this piece.

And so young people, critically important for young people, critically important to change the trajectory of community from, one who was subsidized to one who was generating.

Doni: Well, absolutely, absolutely.

And it does so much to dispel all of those myths that we find to be oppressive and simply untrue.

Simply untrue.

You saw on Dorr Street evidence of why all of that nonsense isn't relevant.

Robert: So that's I'm sorry, is an 18 year old.

I was fascinated who actually had a front row seat.

There were so many businessmen, large and small, who I got to, walk in, and I worked at a place called Clerks Record Shop.

I was, there's an image out there on me and a young lady.

I'm 18 with a knit sweater.

Look at my on the badge on.

I know I made $2.65 an hour.

Yeah, but I learned so much from that business owner, and things were absolutely great.

I watch business owners come to.

Or I will go, Mr. Clerks and watch business owners make agreements.

They were banking.

They were financing each other's names.

On a. Doni: Handshake.

That's right.

Robert: So, you know, all these all these movements.

Not that, not just that I experience, but a community experience.

I mean, Door Street is the main thrust, but the neighborhoods, you know, there was, the synergy synergies created, for the businesses on doing street.

The Black Knights men shop.

At one point, people were coming spas from, Ann Arbor and all all over the small cities in, in, in, you know, Ohio of our store and everywhere.

They just did booming business and, you know, there were 9 million.

That's the other part of the two and nine men who they were first to royal knights, and they raise enough money to finance the beginnings of their business by, you mentioned these are lessons in that that we should pay attention to, that we can do small things to get to the larger thing.

Doni: Absolutely.

Robert: And, you know, we have to begin to look at how we can be can't begin to regenerate dollars to let people take a real good look at us.

And that's what this, doing street project is leaning toward concurrently.

Doni: Wow.

You know, I love something that you sai earlier when you said the focus on on, the legacy project and Dorr Street was not about being selfish.

It really is not about being selfish.

It's about sharing and understanding.

Yeah.

Robert: So, I don't know what kind of mindset I have, but I can step out of myself and see the future.

Unfortunately, I may or may not be around or whatever, but the point is, is that I know that the work that we're currently doing and the work that we hope to do and the work that we hope to foster, it' going to be through generations.

And whatever we accomplish, we need to make sure we set the stages for growth.

And that we did this whole, community planks that we're working on, from talent retention to economic growth to, to, to to education on the level we're talking about, doing what every other community does, and that is to be good stewards of where they live.

Doni: So when you think about a reimagined Dorr Street, what's it look like to you?

Robert: Well, we've traveled to, Columbus, Ohio, to the King Lincoln district.

In fact Mayor Michael Coleman came here and been recently, his development director, Mr. Boyce Safford, came and offered, words of wisdom.

And we use that as a model.

And why we use that as a model is that, the anchor for the King Lincoln district is the King Arts complex, a cultural center.

And we see ourselves in that same formidable role sharing the history of stimulatin economic development and growth, nurturing and helping to sustain community.

We actually see ourselves as doing, position for one tank trips where, you know, like, where we position tha and what we do in the community, we believe that we can create reac a number of different audiences.

If you really think about a location, people who get up exit 205 B stop at, what we pos to be our next cultural center.

And then, head south on Collingwood, turn left on Dorrr and be at the Mudehen stadium in about, ten minutes.

We see that, you know, within, work and in amongst all communities, we see that with the one thing I learned from my early experiences, not just on Dorr Street, but as I grew, you know, excellence has no color.

We're reaching to do things very, very well.

We want to attract whomever is interested in understanding and or participating, and, or, or moving t and through a culture, you know.

And what do I see?

I see great restaurants.

In fact, there is no restaurant, within a two.

Doni: Yeah.

Unless you're going downtown, there's.

Robert: And so, you know, we, we, we think that we can do, a coffee shop, you know, that coffee shop?

We'll do so many things to stimulate.

Young creative.

Doni: People.

People?

Absolutely.

Do you see the businesses?

Do you see it like it was in the 70s?

You know, you see it differently.

Robert: You can't go back.

Doni: You don't think so?

Robert: What?

You going be better?

Doni: All right.

So you see it being that.

Robert: Yeah.

You know w Kansas City is another example of how they flourish in fact.

And Columbus, modeled themselves after Kansas City and they know, hey, you know, we think we're better than Kansas City now.

Yeah, but Kansas City just attracted Alvin Ailey.

Doni: Wow!

Robert: Alvin Ailey to visit LA.

We have a theater, a Columbus and doing a marvelous thing that we sit we sit here with a lot of history.

Doni: We do.

Robert: And I know a lot o history of national consequence.

That we can share, but.

Right.

Doni: No, no, I'm sorry.

I didn't mean to interrupt.

I was just wondering, do you think it's going to be going to be difficult to gather the kind of support you need?

And obviously, this is a long term project, so nobody, nobody expects this to happen in the next three years or whatever.

But do you see do you see a galvanizing of support?

Robert: I see support, yeah.

I'm seeing it start to galvanize.

I'm seeing people are starting to say, in certain quarters will support this.

No, I thin it's going to be difficult.

Yes.

Do I think it's going to be all right?

Yes.

Yeah.

Because whatever comes out of that is going to be the best outcome.

We know we live in a glass city, so whatever structure that we think that we're going to build, you know, it' going to be reflective of glass.

I've got and I've share ideas with architects already.

What we're really talking about is, from where the position will be, well, people who are traveling down I-75 will have, can see the structure as they go by.

Doni: That'd be wonderful.

And you've got you've got a ton of really creative people already at the table talking.

I, I noticed that th collaborative was at the table, community folks like Doris Greer, you know, people who have been around a long time who have been able to.

Robert: So, I need to I need to say our founding board was exceptional, and I need to name them, listen to them about Doctor Allen, coach Mr. John Moore, who no longer with them, must Mr.. My colleague who just passed and Mr.. John Edwards but there were two people who provided the soul to this project doctor Ruth Perry.

Doni: Yes.

Robert: She wrote the future 20 years ago.

She's amazing 20 years ago.

And Doctor John Scott.

Doni: Oh my gosh, two amazing, amazing people.

We only have a few minutes left.

What would a few minutes left?

Yeah, sure.

What would you like to leave people with about Dorr Street and the project, the legacy project?

32nd.

Robert: So, so essentially it's a very simple response and that's, that is, is that we would rather work to change lives and we would rather work to build community.

We would rather work t stimulate the entire to build.

Kind of me.

Yes It can be done.

Doni: Thank you.

Thank you, thank you, my friend, for sharing this morning with us.

Appreciate it so much and thank you for being with us today as well.

And we will see you next time, on... To The Point.

Announcer: The views and opinions expressed in To The Point are those of the host of the program and its guests.

They do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of WGTE public media.

To The Point is supporte in part by American Rescue Plan Act fund allocated by the City of Toledo and the Lucas County Commissioners and administered by the Arts Commission.

And viewers like you.

Thank you.