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A digitization day and a public symposium focused on the history and material culture of African American house music, dance, and culture in Chicago from the late 1970s to the end of the twentieth century. The events would solicit photographs, posters, flyers, clothing, and other materials that document the history of this music scene. In addition, events would provide tutorials on the preservation of various heritage materials. With donor permission, digitized items would be accessioned by the archives of the Center for Black Music Research (CBMR) at Columbia College Chicago. Historians from the CBMR would also provide historical context about the history of African American music in Chicago.

From Warehouse to Web will establish a foundation from which leaders can continue to develop programming opportunities for archiving and sharing digital ephemera from the house music era beginning in the 1970s and 1980s evolving to the present, as well as creative documentation of sartorial expressions. Project collaborators Center for Black Music Research, Modern Dance Music and Archiving Foundation, Links Hall, and Honey Pot Performance will create stable, variable types of digital access through online platforms. It is essential that these vital records of Chicago, American, and queer of color cultural history are preserved and shared in years to come. By creating new access points to previously balkanized private collections of historical materials, Warehouse to Web will do something entirely new for Chicago’s grassroots house music communities, who have yet to see an approach that honors everyday participants in the culture, as opposed to the most popular and profitable artists.