​🌍📂 Salon with Joan Ai & Jaha Cummings: Bringing Community Archives to Life with the SSDA Model 🧠✨

​Tuesday, July 22, 2025 at 1:00 PM EDT

​Join us for a relaxed, 60-minute session where we’ll unpack how the Slave Societies Digital Archive (SSDA) team turns forgotten pages and dusty records into living history—and how you can use the same approach in your hometown.

​🔥 What’s This All About?

​Every neighborhood holds stories we risk forgetting—names in old parish ledgers, family photos fading in attics, dusty court records tucked into church basements. What if these fragments could become living, searchable histories—tools for education, justice, even healing?

​In this salon, we step inside the hands-on world of the Slave Societies Digital Archive (SSDA) with Joan Ai and Jaha Cummings—two community builders who are using simple tools, smart partnerships, and just a bit of AI to breathe life into hidden records. You’ll learn how this work moves beyond academic research into real neighborhoods, and how you can adapt these same methods to uncover and preserve local stories where you live. Whether it’s a family photo box or a fragile community archive, this session offers practical, approachable ways to bring community memory forward—without needing a tech degree or a million-dollar grant.

​🧠 Meet Our Guest Presenters

​Joan Ai builds bridges between tech and community. She helped spin up the Blanchard House Institute to save stories in under-resourced towns, and she’ll share tips on rallying volunteers and local partners.

• ​Co-Founder, Blanchard House Institute (250+ underinvested communities)

• ​Board Member, Common Sense Media; World Economic Forum alumni task force

• ​Fellow, Us@250

• ​Joan on Linkedin

​Jaha Cummings brings the know-how on funding and partnerships. As president of the Blanchard House Museum, he’s turned community passion into real-world projects—and he’ll walk you through approaches that don’t require a big budget.

• ​President, Blanchard House Museum

• ​Fellow, Us@250

• ​Founder, Blanchard House Institute; launched Louisiana Heritage Tourism Corridor at CGI

• ​ Jaha on Linkedin

​🔍 What We’ll Talk About

• ​🗂️ Finding the Records: Where to look (churches, courthouses, attics) and how to ask for permission.

• ​🤖 Making It Searchable: A peek at the 5-minute SSDA explainer — watch it here: https://slavesocieties.org/about.

• ​🌐 Keeping It Local: Simple ways to involve neighbors, schools, and local libraries.

• ​💬 Sharing the Stories: From interactive maps to community exhibits—how to make people care.

​🧭 How the Salon Works

​1️⃣ Welcome & Video (5 min)– We’ll kick off with the 5-minute SSDA overview: https://slavesocieties.org/about
2️⃣ Joan & Jaha’s Top Tips (10 min) – Quick, real-world examples of what’s worked (and what hasn’t).
3️⃣ Open Conversation (40 min)– Your turn: share your archival puzzle, ask questions, trade ideas.
4️⃣ Key Takeaways (5 min)– We’ll wrap with easy next steps and a resource list you can download.

​🎯 Why You’ll Love It

• ​Get Unstuck: Know exactly where to begin—even if you’ve never lifted a scanner.

• ​Use Free Tools: Discover no-cost or low-cost AI helpers for transcription and tagging.

• ​Build Community: Learn how a handful of volunteers can spark a bigger movement.

• ​Share Impact: Walk away with ideas to spotlight hidden histories at your next town hall, school event, or family reunion.

​📚 Handy Links & Resources

• ​🎥 Pre-Salon Video: SSDA explainer (5 min) → https://slavesocieties.org/about

• ​🌐 SSDA Portal: Explore live collections → https://slavesocieties.org

• ​

​🔮 Next Steps for You

• ​Watch the SSDA video ahead of time to spark ideas.

• ​Pick one local archive, even a shoebox of photos, that you’d love to preserve.

• ​Connect with Joan or Jaha after the salon—they’re happy to point you to volunteers or simple tech tools.

• ​Join our Linkedin Makerspace group to swap tips and celebrate your progress.

​✨ Final Thought

​Every community has its hidden stories—what’s yours, and who will help you bring it to light?