Erie exhibit highlights local Black history as leaders plead for help after boiler failure
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Summary
City officials and museum leaders showcased an exhibit from the Historical Institute of Culture and the African American Experience at Erie City Hall and said a boiler failure threatens about 1,500 planned student tours; they asked the public to donate via GoFundMe or an Erie Bank account to fund repairs.
At a program at Erie City Hall, city leaders and museum directors showcased an exhibit from the Historical Institute of Culture and the African American Experience and appealed for community help after the museum’s heating system failed.
The mayor opened the event by calling the display “a beautiful exhibit from the Historical Institute of Culture and the African American experience,” and said the collection helps tell the local and national contributions of African Americans. Bishop Jones, who leads the institute, described the facility as “a 9,700 square foot facility” at 315 East 9th Street and said it contains 30 rooms dedicated to local artists, inventors and cultural displays.
Why it matters: museum leaders said the boiler outage risks the institute’s ability to host educational visits. “We've literally have 1,500 school students that are ready to come through for their annual tour,” Curtis Jones Junior said, arguing the loss of those tours would be a significant setback for student learning during Black History Month.
Bishop Jones said the museum’s current display highlights African American inventors and includes specialty rooms — a military exhibit with a Tuskegee Airman’s uniform, a Native American room, an African cultural center and a slave quarters that he called “very sacred” and emotionally powerful. He asked the community to support repairs and noted that Erie Bank has established an account labeled for boiler repair; the mayor also mentioned a GoFundMe set up to accept donations.
The event emphasized the museum’s role as a living educational resource. The mayor urged residents to visit while the display remains on view through the end of Black History Month (February 28) and reminded the public that the exhibit is open during regular city hall business hours, Monday–Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The organizers framed the appeal as both a preservation and an educational issue: the mayor said understanding one another’s histories reduces ignorance and the chance of harm, and Bishop Jones and his son asked for support so the institute can continue hosting visitors and school groups.
The museum’s leaders offered two ways to help: donations via a GoFundMe and contributions to an account set up at Erie Bank for “boiler repair.” No timeline for repair completion was provided at the program, and organizers did not specify a fundraising target.
The program closed with thanks from the mayor and an invitation for the public to visit the museum at 315 East 9th Street while the display is on view.