Two Detroit siblings are working to preserve and share their late father’s life’s work: tens of thousands of historic artifacts tied to Black media and entertainment.
James Wheeler, who moved to Detroit from Arkansas during the Great Migration in 1958, spent decades collecting film posters, photographs, and memorabilia. That lifelong passion is now the foundation of The Black Canon, a nonprofit launched by his children, Alima Wheeler-Trapp and Ali Wheeler.
“The Black Canon is basically my father’s life work,” Wheeler-Trapp said. “If we don’t preserve these artifacts, they could actually be lost.”…