Preserving local history through the eyes of African-American photographers Kent Kirkton, a longtime journalism professor at CSUN, took it upon himself to bring the collection of photographs from several Los Angeles-based African-American photographers under one roof. Through a grant from the National Endowment for Humanities, Kirkton was able to create a digital database which now houses more than 1,000,000 photographs which is housed at CSUN's Tom & Ethel Bradley Center. 

The collection shows the City of Los Angeles in the midst of social and cultural chaos as experienced by people whose lives were rarely mentioned in the media. The subjects and events are an important part of local history, but are not so well known outside of the African-American community. The focus is to help broaden the understanding of Los Angeles and the accomplishments of African-Americans in Los Angeles.