About

The Unpacking Our History is a project of the Heights Library, made possible, in part, through a 2023 American Library Association Carnegie Whitney Grant.

It is comprised of a monthly 1619 discussion group, an expanding collection of recorded interviews and a monthly lecture series.

1619 Discussion Group: Begun in 2019 with in person discussions of the original New York Times’ Sunday Magazine, The 1619 Project. The discussion group started meeting on Zoom during COVID. The discussion group meets every second Thursday of the month over Zoom.

Now the group has read two books, the 2022 edition of the 1619 Project: New Origin Story and Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019. The group has moved beyond the 1619 Project articles, expanding into deep dives into Critical Race Theory, the criminal justice system, and a yearlong look at White Supremacy.

Each month the group discusses a reading packet of articles curated by librarian, John Piche’. All previous reading packets are available on this website.

Interviews: This collection of over 100 recorded video interviews was originally created to support the discussion material for 1619 Project discussion group. The collection continues to grow and explores current scholarship surrounding America’s history of slavery, the impact of race in American society, and current events centered around diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The videos in this collection are organized by subjects. A complete list of subjects is accessible in the site search or navigation tabs. Some of the subjects include Slavery, Police History, Health and Medicine, Slave Law, and Antebellum History.

Interviewees include renowned historians Eric Foner, Nell Irvin Painter, and David Waldstreicher; bestselling authors Gearld Horne, Richard Rothstein, and Randall Balmer; and Cuyahoga County Public Defender Cullen Sweeney.

The authors and professors included in the collection generously donated their time to participate and were not compensated for their time.

Lectures: The Unpacking Our History lectures complement the Unpacking Our History’ video collection and the monthly 1619 discussion group. This lecture series presented by a local or national content expert, encourages exploration of race and social justice, the state of American democracy, and the history of medicalized prejudice. These hour-long lectures are recorded live during the last week of most months.

Creator: John Piche’ is a public librarian with over 25 years of professional experience. He has a Bachelor of Arts in History from Cleveland State University and holds a Master of Library and Information Science degree from Kent State University. He has a background in radio and print interviewing.