Alton City Hall Features "Empowering" Black History Month Exhibit Through February

ALTON - Riverbend residents have the chance to learn more about Alton’s Black community throughout Black History Month.

From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Feb. 9 through 28, 2026, community members can stop by Alton City Hall to view an expansive collection of Black History Month artifacts, newspaper articles, and information related to Alton’s Black heritage. Curated by Sheila Goins, Eva Perkins and Charlotte Johnson, this exhibit marks its fifth year at City Hall and promises to be as engaging and empowering as ever.

“We’re just proud to be Altonians. One of the things that Charlotte said that resonates with me, she says that if it were not for Black history, especially in the City of Alton, this city would not be what it is today,” Goins said. “Everything from faith to education, it’s just a plethora of things that African Americans have contributed.”

This year’s Black History Month exhibit includes a variety of information, spanning from the 1800s to today. From articles about Alton’s Black educators to pictures of Miles Davis to a photo of the creator of Black History Month Dr. Carter Woodson, the exhibit aims to provide a full picture of Alton’s Black community.

“Some people don’t even know about the history,” Perkins pointed out. “Kids nowadays don’t know anything about this history. They’re not taught. We want them to be taught.”

Over the past several years, Perkins and Johnson have collaborated with others to create a Black History Month exhibit at Alton Square Mall. When Goins’s husband, Mayor David Goins, took office, Goins was “spirit-inspired” to revive the exhibit at City Hall in partnership with the City Clerk, who manages the building.

She contacted Johnson, a 93-year-old world-renowned historian who stores most of Alton’s Black history artifacts in her basement. Together, Goins, Johnson and Perkins put together the exhibit for City Hall. Perkins noted that the goal, eventually, is to have a building dedicated to Alton’s Black history.

“My dream is, one day, if we could have a building,” Perkins said. “It’s a joy to see this, to share it with the community, to anyone who wants to see it.”

The exhibit is open during City Hall’s hours, but Goins added that she can work with nonprofits and youth groups to give tours after the building closes. These tours can also include a tour of the mayor’s office and a roundtable with him.

This year’s exhibit features a special section dedicated to the Alton Heritage Pilgrimage Tour, a 2025 trip to Ghana organized by the Goins that included many Alton community members.

Goins explained that her godson, who is from Ghana, encouraged them to visit Ghana and experience the country for themselves. Goins was eager to plan the trip for her family and Alton residents. As she reflected on the trip, she emphasized the importance of connecting to one’s heritage and ancestors.

“It was life-changing,” she said. “For me, personally, as an African American, to actually step on the soil where my ancestors lived and breathed and had to leave their country against their will, it was very emotional. But we just had a wonderful, beautiful time with that connection and being able to just be welcomed…I just want to spread a little bit more of that happiness here and that unification.”

More information about the Alton Heritage Pilgrimage Tour and Alton’s contemporary Black community can be found at the exhibit alongside decades of history. Goins and Perkins hope people feel empowered by the exhibit.

They added that they will continue to curate a Black History Month exhibit at City Hall for as long as they’re able to, and anyone who wants to donate an artifact can contact Goins for more information at queenelaine9@aol.com.

“I want them to square their shoulders back and embrace and be proud of the lineage that they come from, the heritage that they come from, and to continue it on,” Goins added. “The greatest and most important thing, I think, is to bring their children and share the legacy, let the history resonate with their children so that it will continue on after we’re gone.”

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