Join MRG Foundation, in partnership with The Oregon Community foundation, as we gather and explore the exhibit Giving Back: The Soul of Philanthropy Reframed and Exhibited, Pop-Up, Abridged Edition in Eugene. The reception will feature the pop-up exhibit and leaders from the social justice and philanthropy communities in Eugene. It will be a joyous night honoring the generosity of and the important role Americans of African decent played in establishing our philanthropic culture. It is also a taste of what you will experience when the full exhibit comes to Portland in early 2017. Stay tuned for more information about the full exhibit.
Giving Back: The Soul of Philanthropy Reframed and Exhibited, Pop-Up, Abridged Edition
Groundbreaking in focus and depth, the new multimedia exhibition Giving Back: The Soul of Philanthropy Reframed and Exhibited is touring the country and will be hosted by MRG Foundation, in partnership with The Oregon Community Foundation, in January of 2017 prior to its international launch. The exhibit features inspirational images and stories of generosity among Americans of African descent. Selected elements of the comprehensive exhibit compose a versatile, compact version, called the Pop-Up, Abridged Edition, which is designed to make the exhibit’s content more accessible. The pop-up edition’s 20 black-and- white photographs and narratives provide insight to centuries-old cultural customs and beliefs about giving and generosity that—though rarely referred to as “philanthropy” in Black communities—have long been an integral and transformational force in lives and communities throughout American society.
Historic Mims House Memorial Monument
MRG Foundation is excited to partner with the NAACP Eugene/ Springfield to host the reception at the Historic Mims House. The Mims House is a cornerstone to the Black community in Eugene and has been for almost 70 years.
In the 1940’s racist exclusionary laws in Eugene established a practice that prohibited African-Americans from residing within the Eugene city limits. In 1948, under the name of his sympathetic employer Joe Earley (Osborn Hotel owner), C.B. and Annie D. Mims purchased 330 & 336 High Street property. The Mims’ houses became both home and boarding houses for other African-Americans seeking to settle or passing through Eugene as other accommodation were invariably “white-only.” These houses were also home to many Black U of O students who also had difficulty finding residences in Eugene.
In the 1980s a group of activists successfully applied for national restoration funds and both houses were restored and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
