�����Ƶ

�����Ƶ�A lot of people have passed on, moved away. Some churches have closed down, so a lot of that history is gone. It�����Ƶ�s disappearing.�����Ƶ�

He started out by adding his own family pictures, memorials, gravestones, obituaries and article clippings.

He didn�����Ƶ�t know his page would amass a following of almost 800 members. He didn�����Ƶ�t know his passion project would soon turn into, according to Smith, the first Black history museum in eastern Kentucky.

�����Ƶ�Then other people joined in. They started adding pictures. It was incredible. It just kind of grew. There�����Ƶ�s probably over 4,000 pictures and article clippings on the page,�����Ƶ� Smith said.

The C.B. Nuckolls Community Center and Black History Museum, singlehandedly curated and now operated by Smith, opened in April 2023 and is now in full swing.

According to Smith, the building, which he bought with the help of his great-aunt Bernice Henry on the housing advisory board, was named after the former principal of Booker T. Washington School in �����Ƶhland. The building was given to Smith for $1 a year with utilities covered, and it would quickly be filled with paintings, photographs and artifacts donated from the community and arranged by Smith commemorating the legacy of those before him.

�����Ƶ�I worked probably 12-16 hours a day, weekends, Easter Sunday, right before the opening in 2023. So I stayed here, and I was determined that this place was going to be open. I had to push the date back a little bit, but I was determined it was going to be open.�����Ƶ�

Upon entering the museum, the hallway is filled with photographs of every Black person in �����Ƶhland who has made large contributions to the museum. The hallway passes a library filled with tables donated by the Cabell County Public Library and books by Black authors and those referencing Black history, some of them shipped from the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., before winding around to the main gallery.

The gallery, which Smith said was formerly painted all white, has been redesigned according to Smith�����Ƶ�s vision in black and gold with canvassed murals painted by local artist Jerry Johnson and patterned wallpaper. The centerpiece, Smith said, is ever-changing and currently features a pyramid of Black Barbies donated by a local couple.

One of the more permanent exhibits is located toward the back-right corner and features memorabilia from the Booker T. Washington School, complete with an original majorette uniform and letterman patches. In the front-right corner is an exhibit honoring Nuckolls, whose family donated $10,000 to jump-start the museum, along with several pictures.

The museum also includes several pieces of national Black history, including a copy of the Green Book, which helped Black travelers find safe spaces in the time of Jim Crow laws, history panels about early slave trade and even a collage picturing Joseph Boulogne, more commonly known as the �����Ƶ�Black Mozart.�����Ƶ�

The rest of the space is filled with local sports memorabilia from Black players, panels about local artists, a tribute to the late pastor of Smith�����Ƶ�s church, photographs and clothing donated by community members, and even an entire collection of Black ceramic dolls. According to Smith, it takes about an hour to complete a full walkthrough of the museum.

�����Ƶ������Ƶhland has embraced this place; they�����Ƶ�ve embraced this museum,�����Ƶ� Smith said. �����Ƶ�We have lost so much Black history. The area had so many more Black setups back then in the �����Ƶ�80s and �����Ƶ�90s. But again, when people have passed away and left, so a lot of the history has died off. People have passed and kids will come in and sell off the property and throw pictures away and not care one bit, which doesn�����Ƶ�t make any sense to me.�����Ƶ�

The museum�����Ƶ�s regular hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for walk-ins, and Smith also has several group tours planned throughout this month, including a field trip for students. He said several clubs and even senior centers have visited in the past.

�����Ƶ�They don�����Ƶ�t teach Black history very much in this country. We all know this. When I was growing up, we did not get Black history education,�����Ƶ� he said.

Smith said he wants all people to come in and see that, although slavery is a large part of Black history, the history and the museum is much more than that. Smith has also incorporated several white politicians who have aided in the Civil Rights movement over the years.

�����Ƶ�It�����Ƶ�s one big pot of community, in that sense. Helping each other,�����Ƶ� he said.

Smith hopes to expand to a larger building in the future, hire staff and include genealogy for members of the local Black community.

�����Ƶ�I love history, whether it be Black history, general history. I can�����Ƶ�t see anything being thrown away when it should be saved and shared.�����Ƶ�

The museum is located at 901 Kilgore Drive in �����Ƶhland. More information about the museum, upcoming events and ways to donate can be found by visiting .