The Sept. 16 Hastings City Council hosted a presentation from the nonprofit Building Remembrance for Reconciliation (BR4R) about what a future Black Heritage trail in Hastings might look like. BR4R is a local nonprofit founded in 2018 dedicated to remembering the many Black families in Hastings that in large part were driven out of the community by the 1950s. The nonprofit works to increase awareness of the vibrant Black community in Hastings with a specific focus on Brown’s Chapel, Hastings first African Methodist Episcopal Church opened in 1892 on the corner of Fifth and Sibley. Brown’s Church was burned down by arsonists in 1907.
“Our hope is that in telling the stories of these early Black families that called Hastings’ home and understanding the impact of this incident and many like it had on the community, will help us create racial and economic justice in the present,” said BR4R’s website.
While BR4R dates back to 2018, its origins are to Building Bridges, a group of Hastings residents who worked together to share stories of Black settlers in Hastings. In 2017 the group created a reader’s theatre play based on articles from local newspapers dating from 1870 to 1954, the year Henry Thomas, the city’s last resident of color died. In 2018 Building Bridges reincorporated into a 501c3 nonprofit and changed its name to BR4R, coming under the leadership of James Curry, a historian and documentarian, with ancestors from the Hastings area during the late 1800s.
The Black Heritage Trail originated from a legacy grant from Minnesota Historical Society in 2023 with the project also receiving funds from the Hastings Community Investment Fund (CIP). The presentation at the Sept. 16 city council meeting showcased several modular ideas for what the future Black Heritage Trail might look like.
The proposed Black Heritage Trail is composed of three loops around Hastings running through locations significant to the Black Community including Lakeside Cemetery, the location of Brown’s Chapel, and the location of the George Kennedy Barber Shop among many others. Many of the specifics of these proposed trails and the informational markers and monuments that would go along with them are still up in the air dependent on future funding and community input.
“They did a nice job of offering lower cost solutions that are almost retrofitting what already exists,” said Chair Curry.
BR4R has partnered with the architecture firm 4RM+ULA to envision a visitor’s center or bookstore that could function as a central hub for these trails as well as the potential for future murals and informational plaques along existing city trails and parks.
“Hastings like every small city, and big town across this county, there is an American story here where the Black community is kind of embedded within and learning about it, it’s a true American story which is a beautiful thing,” said Nathan Johnson, Partner at 4RM+ULA.
For more information about BR4R, including several resources on the history of Black residents in Hastings, visit BR4R’s website at https://buildingremembranceforreconciliation.com/