About the Archive
The Avondale Neighborhood Archive is a project of the Avondale Neighborhood History Initiative (ANHI), -- a community-engaged public history collaboration designed to preserve and celebrate the rich history of Cincinnati’s Avondale Neighborhood. This initiative is a partnership between the Avondale branch of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Avondale Development Corporation, and the University of Cincinnati’s Center for the City. It documents the individual lives, memories, and experiences that have together made Avondale a special place to so many.
Avondale Neighborhood History Initiative (ANHI)
Avondale is a neighborhood with many layers of history important both locally and nationally, but that it is also a neighborhood that has suffered due to segregation, racism, poverty, and divestment. For over fifty years, Avondale has been Cincinnati’s largest Black neighborhood. Today, it has a population of nearly 12,500, ninety percent of whom are Black. It is home to a strong community, but a shrinking population - down from nearly 25,000 in 1960.
Confronting the urgent need to document and celebrate the rich and vital history of the Avondale neighborhood, project partners launched the Avondale Neighborhood History Initiative in summer 2021. The initiative acknowledges that the story of Avondale amplifies the larger national history of segregation, racism, poverty, and injustice - as well as triumph against adversity. This initiative will create a clear and lasting document of the relevance and importance of Avondale’s story within the history of the city and the nation. It is rooted in the ideals of restorative justice and will help to uplift existing efforts to make Avondale a more vibrant, livable, equitable, and inclusive neighborhood. As a path toward a more equitable and just Cincinnati, this collaborative project aims to empower Avondale residents to uncover, preserve, and present the history of their own neighborhood.