Historian’s talk, book highlight local region’s Black pioneers
Jan Batiste Adkins
Capitalized, the phrase “Black Lives Matter” is a political statement. Lower case, “Black lives matter” is a passion, especially to local historian, lecturer and author Jan Batiste Adkins.
Adkins discussed her research in a webinar titled “The History of African Americans in Santa Clara County, 1780 to Present,” hosted by the Los Altos History Museum Feb. 24.
The virtual event coincided with Black History Month. According to the history museum’s collections strategist Dianne Shen, the webinar “supports a new initiative to document the history of race, immigration and civil rights of the local region.” Santa Clara County is one of the most multicultural and multiracial regions in the U.S.