Rediscovering Central Track and Deep Ellum at the African American Museum, Dallas

A highway now runs through where a vibrant community existed. Two exhibitions, Central Track: Crossroads of Deep Ellum and Seeing a World Blind Lemon Never Saw, at the African American Museum, Dallas try to bring to life that community that was lost to concrete. Both exhibitions are on view at the Fair Park museum through May 30. Alan Govenar and Phillip Collins co-curated Central Track, chronicling the development and demise of North Central Avenue, in the area known as Central Track or Stringtown, which connects Deep Ellum to what was known as Freedman Town after the Civil War. It is now known as Uptown. The area was destroyed in the 1940s for the construction of North Central Expressway and the I-635 overpass. Kimberly Richard The exhibition features a map showing where many Black-owned businesses were located. The co-curators created a map to show where various businesses once stood, based on advertisements in newspapers. “The lifeblood of Deep Ellum was in part this neighborhood, this community that grew up along Central Track, Central Avenue, North Central Avenue,” Govenar said. The exhibition focuses on life during the 1920s and 1930s when the area was filled with Black-owned businesses like movie theaters, cafes,...