Clinton A.M.E. Zion Church: A Sustainable Future for a Historic Church

Clinton A.M.E. Zion Church: A Sustainable Future for a Historic Church is an eight-panel display installed in May 2021 on the lawn of the historic former church in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. While taking a Public History course with Professor David Glassberg at UMass Amherst, I led a small team of two graduate students in developing interpretive materials in collaboration with Clinton Church Restoration (now the Du Bois Freedom Center). The display explores African American heritage in the Berkshires through the history of the Clinton A.M.E. Zion Church, examining themes of Black community life, activism, social movements, and the church’s connections to W.E.B. Du Bois and the A.M.E. Zion tradition. Installed during the building’s renovation, the panels invite visitors to learn about the church’s past while supporting its preservation for the future.