The history of the building on the corner of Humewood Road and Walmer Boulevard began with R50, collected from the back pockets of a board of trustees 25 years ago.
On Friday, the South End Museum opens its doors for the public to immerse themselves in an upgraded exhibition of the history of South End — as the result of a R300,000 investment by Ezethu Development Trust.
Until recently, the museum suffered financial strain and struggled to stay afloat.
Fearing the same fate as the Red Location Museum, Collin Abrahams, the museum’s administrator, responded to an advert in The Herald’s Classifieds by the Ezethu Development Trust offering to assist projects in need of financial assistance.
Malcolm Stewart, a representative from the trust, confirmed that the museum was granted R300 000.
“We allowed the application because we believe that the development is going to keep an important part of Port Elizabeth’s history alive,” Stewart said.
He said the trust aimed to support projects that would benefit the residents of the metro and invited other organisations to submit their project proposals to the trust for possible sponsorship.
The museum, a community-centred NGO, tells of the journey and aftermath of the Groups Areas Act, which was set in place to uproot people of colour in suburbs to be used for the development of white-only communities during the apartheid regime.
Abrahams said the South End Museum had been launched on March 21 2000 — Human Rights Day — to grapple with the troubled history of South End.
Christopher du Preez, the exhibition’s curator, said: “These spaces tackle questions like ‘How do we give voice to those who struggle with the consequence of the Group Areas Act?’ and as a present audience witnessing these questions, we should be challenged to find answers that restore underprivileged communities.”
Abrahams, who is “a product of forced removals”, was deeply troubled by the lack of support South End received.
“South End has been disregarded. The history of this city plays a huge role in our current social ills and we need to preserve the institutions that want to educate the public about this history,” he said.
Abrahams is proud that the museum is now an interactive archive of oral history, photographs and letters of those who have been willing to share their experiences.
He said that, on behalf of the board of trustees, he hoped the renovation of the museum would arouse interest from the public in engaging with not only South End’s history, but the whole of the metro, so that the inequalities the city still experiences could begin to be rectified.
New dawn for South End Museum
Image: WERNER HILLS
The history of the building on the corner of Humewood Road and Walmer Boulevard began with R50, collected from the back pockets of a board of trustees 25 years ago.
On Friday, the South End Museum opens its doors for the public to immerse themselves in an upgraded exhibition of the history of South End — as the result of a R300,000 investment by Ezethu Development Trust.
Until recently, the museum suffered financial strain and struggled to stay afloat.
Fearing the same fate as the Red Location Museum, Collin Abrahams, the museum’s administrator, responded to an advert in The Herald’s Classifieds by the Ezethu Development Trust offering to assist projects in need of financial assistance.
Malcolm Stewart, a representative from the trust, confirmed that the museum was granted R300 000.
“We allowed the application because we believe that the development is going to keep an important part of Port Elizabeth’s history alive,” Stewart said.
He said the trust aimed to support projects that would benefit the residents of the metro and invited other organisations to submit their project proposals to the trust for possible sponsorship.
The museum, a community-centred NGO, tells of the journey and aftermath of the Groups Areas Act, which was set in place to uproot people of colour in suburbs to be used for the development of white-only communities during the apartheid regime.
Abrahams said the South End Museum had been launched on March 21 2000 — Human Rights Day — to grapple with the troubled history of South End.
Christopher du Preez, the exhibition’s curator, said: “These spaces tackle questions like ‘How do we give voice to those who struggle with the consequence of the Group Areas Act?’ and as a present audience witnessing these questions, we should be challenged to find answers that restore underprivileged communities.”
Abrahams, who is “a product of forced removals”, was deeply troubled by the lack of support South End received.
“South End has been disregarded. The history of this city plays a huge role in our current social ills and we need to preserve the institutions that want to educate the public about this history,” he said.
Abrahams is proud that the museum is now an interactive archive of oral history, photographs and letters of those who have been willing to share their experiences.
He said that, on behalf of the board of trustees, he hoped the renovation of the museum would arouse interest from the public in engaging with not only South End’s history, but the whole of the metro, so that the inequalities the city still experiences could begin to be rectified.
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