No one can tell the story of York’s Black history better than the people who have lived it, says Bobby Simpson, CEO of Crispus Attucks. Boxes that contain that history, stored in the basement, could soon be part of a bigger vision.
There are pictures of families sitting on front porches, dancing at weddings, and enjoying church picnics. Instruments from the drum and bugle corps are stored in cases. An old Boy Scout uniform is folded in a box.
Each of these items tells the story of the Black experience in York City, says Bobby Simpson, CEO of Crispus Attucks, a community-based nonprofit that serves the underserved and economically disadvantaged in the greater York area and beyond.
Celebrating its 90th anniversary, Simpson hopes those items can come out of the Crispus Attucks basement and be on full display. Because behind each item, there’s a memory that he doesn’t want to be forgotten.
“No one can tell the story of York’s Black history better than me and those who lived it,” he says. “I was here when we had segregated schools. I was in the riots. History, as we all know, can and will be told in many languages by different speakers and different organizations. And it will be judged and interpreted by those giving the history. I don’t want other folks’ versions of our history.”
Honoring the stories
When Simpson had the idea for building a Crispus Attucks/York City African American History Museum — an idea that he knew could use an Architect’s eye — he picked up the phone and called Frank Dittenhafer, President of Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects.
“I knew Frank had a relationship with us,” Simpson says. “He is someone who has always understood our organization. He gets our mission. In his own way, he could put that mission and vision down on paper and bring an idea to life.”
That idea was for a new type of museum and “community place” in York. The proposed Crispus Attucks and York City African American History Museum would sit at the south end of the organization's parking lot off McKenzie Street. The vision was revealed at the March 21 Crispus Attucks annual meeting, where Simpson made a call for York’s “movers and shakers” to support the $8 million project.
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The building is expected to be a little over 19,000 square feet and comprised of a three-story section. Each room will guide visitors through different stories and themes in York’s history. An auditorium will be available for special presentations and community gatherings.
Dittenhafer sees the building as an outward expression of the pride Simpson conveys in telling this version of York’s history. Rather than become a stagnant chamber of the past, it will be a bright beacon of the future, knowing that we can accomplish great things by remembering history.
“There are incredible stories to be told here,” Dittenhafer says. “When we dedicate space to telling those stories, we honor them. We help them live on far beyond this lifetime. There’s something very exciting about capturing history and letting it take up space.”
A true telling
“This place will tell the history that, at one time, before this craziness took place in our society, there was peace and quiet in our neighborhood,” Simpson says. “There was a thriving economy in our neighborhood. Oh, my God, what a rich history.”
There will be no sugarcoating York’s history, Simpson says. There are prices that had to be paid, hard work that had to be done, to make our community better, he says. It wasn’t a pretty or easy history for Black Yorkers, but it was an important history.
“What separates us from everyone else at Crispus Attucks is that we produce,” Simpson says. “When I’m no longer able to do my job, when I’m no longer on this Earth, I want people to be able to go and see the history of this community. People won’t have to guess about where they came from or what shaped them. It will all be here. That means something.”
Seitzland Village represents historic pride and a dedication to community.