This conversation happened on January 20, 2022 at 6:00 pm PST.
Join Nevada Humanities and Our Story, Inc. for An Introduction to Black Springs, an online conversation about the history of Black Springs, Nevada, a neighborhood located in the North Valleys, approximately six miles from downtown Reno. The conversation is moderated by Angie Taylor, President and Chief Executive Officer for Guardian Quest, Inc. and President of the Washoe County School District Board of Trustees, and the event features past and present residents and community supporters of Black Springs, including Helen Townsell-Parker and Demetrice Dalton, with an overview of some ongoing collaborative projects to document and promote the neighborhood's history from historian Alicia Barber. We discuss the development and growth of this area from the 1940s to today, including the struggle and fight for basic infrastructure for the residents of Black Springs. Additionally the story is shared of how Black families purchased homes in Black Springs against seemingly insurmountable odds, including a lack of electricity, water, sewers, and paved roads, and began to build a lasting community.
Panelists:
Dr. Alicia Barber is a public historian, writer, and educator who specializes in documenting, preserving, and promoting the stories and historical places of Nevada. Her collaborative projects include oral histories, architectural research, exhibits, and digital projects including the historical app/website, Reno Historical. The author of Reno’s Big Gamble: Image and Reputation in the Biggest Little City, Dr. Barber earned a PhD in American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin and taught for 10 years for the History Department at the University of Nevada, Reno, where she also directed the University of Nevada Oral History Program. In 2019-2020, she was a consulting historian for The African American Civil Rights Experience in Nevada (2020), a historic context produced for the Nevada State Historic Preservation Office. She serves on the boards of the Historic Reno Preservation Society and the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts.
Demetrice Dalton, a longtime resident of northern Nevada, has volunteered for Our Story, Inc. for over 10 years, helping fulfill its mission of sharing the stories of the unsung in northern Nevada. Our Story Inc. is a non-profit organization that strives to seek out, preserve, and exhibit the heritage, culture, contributions, and accomplishments of underrepresented people in northern Nevada. Dalton is a professional freelance artist and has been working in this field for over 35 years. In her spare time, Dalton is inspired daily by her husband, children, and grandchildren, and she likes to garden, study history, watch documentaries, crochet, and play video games with her husband, kids, and grandkids.
Dr. Angie Taylor has a long history of excellent leadership, people development and community service. She is the President and Chief Executive Officer for Guardian Quest, Inc., an organization specializing in providing diversity/inclusion, leadership and organizational development training and consulting solutions for educational, governmental, corporate and military clients across North America. In December of 2014, she was appointed to the Washoe County School District Board of Trustees, becoming the first African American to serve in that capacity. Since that time, she has been elected for two more four-year terms, serving as board president for the third time in 2021. Taylor earned a doctorate in Educational Leadership (PhD), holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration and Policy (MPA) and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (BS), all from the University of Nevada, Reno.
Helen Townsell-Parker was born in California and raised in Black Springs, Nevada. She is the daughter of Jeff and Carrie Townsell, and granddaughter of Ollie and Helen Westbrook. In the early 2000s, Townsell-Parker discovered the history of the community she grew up in, and in March 2006, she successfully petitioned the County Commissioners to rename the Black Springs Community Center to The Westbrook Community Center. In 2007, Townsell-Parker began hosting activities in the Black Springs Community, such as crochet classes, movie nights, and music lessons, and she circulated a monthly newsletter. She founded The Westbrook Foundation in 2008 in memory of her grandparents. Its mission, “Youth Empowerment through Educational Scholarships,” provided academic scholarships to local graduating seniors to further their education. A Cry for Help, chronicling the building of a Black community in the early 1950s through 2000, was published in 2010, and all historical documents relating to this research are housed at the Nevada Historical Society. Townsell-Parker is a mother and grandmother.
