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// Archive · Place history

BlackStory

Black history is everywhere. Not a handful of famous incidents in a handful of famous cities, but a continuous, documented presence across every state, county, and neighborhood. BlackStory puts that presence on the map next to the records that back it, so you can see how much is here and read the receipts for each thing shown.

taglineHistory on the ground it happened.statusIn build · research platformtagsBlack history · Map · Evidence · Research
The product

Live at blackstory.app. Map, decade timeline, and place-connected records.

BlackStory home screen. Interactive U.S. map with census population fills and archive evidence pins, headline History happened here, Near you and Explore the map actions, and a decade timeline set to the 2020s.
The thesis

Presence and proof, together

An archive of record with receipts. Every fact traces to evidence, including source, capture, confidence, and, when records disagree, the conflict itself, preserved rather than resolved by fiat. Not a crowdsourced trivia site and not a raw research dump. The layer between the two, where only claims that clear the evidence bar get a public page.

What holds

Presence. Evidence. Dignity.

  • 01

    Presence. People, schools, institutions, and events stay on the ground. Not a trauma-first feed, not a remote museum shelf.

  • 02

    Evidence. Accepted claims carry citations and confidence you can read. When sources disagree, both stay visible.

  • 03

    Dignity. Street-level residences stay off the public map. Living people stay protected. Presence is never framed as deficit.

The register

Proud, precise, unflinching. Never trauma-forward

Hard history is part of the record where it belongs, but it is never the default lens or the hook. A place's page leads with what's documented about the place (people, institutions, events across time), not with the worst thing that happened there. Crime and tragedy never organize the product.

Who it serves

Accountable place history

Readers, educators, journalists, and community researchers who need accountable place history. Not anonymous scrapes, not unverifiable timelines, not a wiki anyone can silently rewrite. The tool makes trust checkable rather than asking for it.

Source, issues, and the actual code.