A new exhibition at the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History seeks to rewrite the narrative of Black womanhood by reclaiming the idea of softness. Softness Was Always Ours, curated by project archivist Jami Adkins Murphy, opens this week with a public debut on Thursday, Sept. 18.

The exhibition draws heavily from the Ellie Lee Weems Photographic Negatives Collection (1928–1978), featuring over 100 digitized photographs, mounted prints, books, record covers, and rare periodicals. The images span five decades, capturing Black women and girls in moments of childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.

“Black women are often stereotyped as angry, bitter, or unprofessional, but history shows us the exact opposite,” Murphy said. “These images show Black women in mome

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