In today’s special edition, we shine a light on the unsung heroes in our communities.
I’m your host, Albert, and we are joined by a very special guest who has been quietly making a profound impact in our public libraries.
Phil Tolbert is a volunteer who dedicates countless hours to curate exhibits that highlight the rich history and often unrecognized achievements of the African American community.
H: Welcome, Phil.
G: Thank you. Glad to be here.
*Transcript lightly edited for clarity*
H: So, Phil, just to get started, let’s talk about your background. What inspired you to start this project that focuses on these exhibits?
G: I used to work in the public library system here in Oklahoma County, the Metropolitan Library system, and I retired in January of 2023. During that time, I somehow took on the role of creating exhibits and displays on various topics—not just African American themes, but a wide range. I’ve done everything from Christmas displays to exhibits on different countries. I even created a pirate ship display one year with sails to promote library events.
I’ve also supported summer reading programs with themed displays. It’s been a diverse range of topics over the years.
H: That’s incredible what you’re doing. Just to be clear, you’re doing this mostly on a volunteer basis?
G: Yes, that’s right. My house is filled with trinkets from displays and exhibits I’ve done over the years. The attic is quite crowded now. I need to clean it out, but it’s a lot to handle.
H: It’s kind of hot to go up there right now.
G: I’m not going up there now. No, I’m not going to do that.
H: So you’ve done a lot of exhibits. Which one are you most proud of, if you can narrow it down to just one or two?
G: It’s hard to choose, but one of the most moving for me was the exhibit on Black Wall Street in Greenwood, Tulsa. It didn’t focus on the massacre but on life in Greenwood before it happened. I found articles from newspapers of the era, like the Tulsa Star, and photos of people in front of their businesses. When I was putting these together, I felt like the images were telling me to “tell our story,” as if they were channeling through me. It was a powerful moment.
H: Wow! So it felt like the people were talking to you or through you?
G: Yes, almost. It seemed like that. I know it sounds a little mysterious and mystical, but it just happened unexpectedly.
H: That’s amazing. That’s quite a story.
H: Let’s talk about the impact of your exhibits. Have they had any significant impact on the community? How have people been responding to them?
G: One memorable response was last year at the Edmond library’s Juneteenth exhibit. An African American woman saw the exhibit and was very emotional and appreciative. She thanked the staff for making the information available. It reminded me of hearing African American music on the radio during this year’s Juneteenth celebration. It’s reassuring and uplifting to see such appreciation.
Other exhibits, like Christmas displays, also get positive reactions. Families take photos in front of them, sometimes using them for Christmas cards. It’s rewarding to see the impact.
H: You are an unsung hero. People see and appreciate your displays. I just wanted to recognize you for your impact on the community and families, and for keeping these important stories alive in public spaces.
H: What goes into curating an exhibit? What was your process for the Juneteenth exhibit? Did you face any challenges, and do you have any ideas for your next exhibit?
G: The Juneteenth exhibit is a re-creation of last year’s, so the process started then. I outlined the exhibit to tell the story of Juneteenth, give historical background, and show how we celebrate it today. I included contributions of African Americans to highlight their valuable impact on the country.
This year, I made some changes, like redoing captions for better readability and including different elements to make it stand out. I added costumes and props from the Territorial Museum in Guthrie, Oklahoma, and adjusted the layout to ensure there’s always something new to see.
H: Very inspiring. I know you have another exhibit at Oklahoma Central University about African American inventors.
I’ll share a link or some pictures of the inventors. It’s important to spread these stories to the audience and the world. Your work is truly inspiring.
G: Absolutely.
H: It’s truly inspiring and highlights why Juneteenth is so important.
H: With your 40 years of experience in the library system, do you have a background in curating? How do you ensure the accuracy of the information you share?
G: I cross-check different sources. If I see a photo or description in multiple places, I feel confident it’s accurate. I combine information from books and online sources like Wikipedia to create accurate descriptions.
H: you are doing a lot of good work mostly on a volunteer basis. What are the biggest challenges? Maybe like finding funding sources and you know the travel?. Are there any specific challenges that you would want to highlight and see where people can help and chip in?
G: Well, I appreciate that. I guess you could say I’ve gotten to the point where I just figured out how to do things myself. It may take more than one trip. I don’t have a truck. I even rented a U-Haul a couple of times to get everything in place. One year I took the Greenwood or the Black Wall Street exhibit down to Dallas, Texas, and I just rented a U-Haul and just put it all in there. And then last year when I did the exhibit at the Edmond library on Juneteenth, I rented a U-Haul. But I discovered this year that I didn’t really need that because, when you take all that stuff at one time, you’ve got to put it somewhere while you’re setting it up inside of the showcase. So I figured, I’ll just take a little at a time and do what I can with what I take and then the next time I’ll come back and do some more.
But as far as what people can do, I would just say get the word out that we’re doing things in the community and the libraries are very good places for information. These are things that I think would help people to see and learn. As far as making the exhibits work, I’m okay right now. I will go on Amazon If I get an inspiration. I’ll never forget once I was in my process of doing kind of a preliminary setup of that exhibit on Juneteenth that’s in the library right now. I was working on the pharmacy, those little bottles that you saw in the showcase that looked like little pharmaceutical bottles that you might see inside of a pharmacy somewhere. I actually got those with a friend when I was up in South Dakota in an antique store that was going out of business. I was laying that out in, my sun-room here at home and as I was looking at that, the idea came to me that I should put a microscope in there to show that. But then I thought, oh, I need a pestle and a mortar, the little jar that you have and then the little thing that you grind up herbs and things. I just got up from where I was in the sun-room and went all the way to this computer and went on Amazon, found them and I ordered them just right then. So it was a lot of things come to me like that. I just think if I had this, it would really stand out and make the exhibit that much more enlightening. There’s a guitar in there and there’s a violin in there. Those items I’ve had for years, ever since I was in grade school, I’ve had the violin that my mom bought that for me when I was in, the sixth grade, but I didn’t have a stand so that it would be upright in the showcase. I went on Amazon and I found the violin stand and I found the guitar stand as well, and just went ahead and bought those they were here in my front porch a few days later. So that’s kind of how I work and I never know.
H: That is amazing Do you play the violin?
G: I did back then when I was in my last year of elementary school and then junior high. Then I was into the clarinet for the next few years through college and I’ve always studied piano So that’s been my main instrument, I would say. I get an idea somewhere and maybe the music helps me to think it through a little bit. I don’t know, but it’s fun.
H: Do you have any wise words, gems of advice for the audience out there, the listeners out there? Something you may have read from one of the inspirational inventors or, one of the stories that you’ve read that you want to share out with the audience or just your own personal, advice that you want to share with everybody out there?
G: I think the best answer that I could give to you is what I would consider, what I am beginning to see as my signature that goes with these kinds of exhibits. I put a mirror somewhere towards the end of the exhibit, whatever it is, if it’s dealing with African-American history or anything that’s informational. “The purpose of the mirror is for a person looking at the exhibit to see their own reflection”.And I put some kind of caption that will say,
“what can you do yourself that would make the world a better place?”
So if I have done a series of photos with captions on things that different African Americans have invented. It doesn’t matter if you’re not African American, you could be any religion, any race, any human being that would look through that exhibit. There may be some act of kindness, something that you can do, something that you might create yourselves that would enhance the world around us. And that’s what the mirror represents and that particular panel, if you will, in the exhibit. So I try to put that in all the exhibits that I do that feature the contributions of a lot of different people. And then I want that person that’s looking at the exhibit to see themselves and think, well, maybe there’s something that I can do. If I don’t do, don’t know what it is right now, At least I’m aware that there might be a day when I can do something. And that’s what I’m trying to do.
H: Wise words. Before we wrap up, do you have any plans for future exhibits and where can we look forward to seeing them?
G: One of the things that I’ve done over the years is a Christmas holiday village, where I have a big layout and I have been doing them at the Southern Oaks library. I’m considering it for this year,.The table is about the size of a ping pong table and a friend of mine actually built a cabinet to put around the whole table with a roof on it. So you have this imaginary world that you can look into inside of the showcase. Its a portable showcase that I would take out in my storage building and I’ll gather all that stuff up the table and all the components that go with it. There are lights, Christmas lights and little miniature lights, and I create a little miniature village of some kind. So I might do a village of little buildings made out of cardboard. One year I had a workshop at the library and I invited families to come in and create little gingerbread houses, another year we created cupcake houses. One year we did little A-frame houses. It was a kit already created and all they had to do was to assemble the kit and decorate it. So we could put little candy on there, put little gumdrops or whatever you want to put on there. And then when the exhibit was over and I would always have a way of lighting it up so that the light would reflect through the windows of the house. So they would come to the workshop, build their item, and I would invite them to leave it with me. I would set it up inside of the showcase that I had with the train going around it and all the other little things that I could come up with, little mobile items that move around and get your interest, little skating rinks and things like that and a train and they love it, the kids love it, everybody loves it. After I take it down, I offer those items back to those families that came in and they take them home and they belong to them. So I’m considering doing something. I haven’t figured it all out yet, but this year at the Southern Oaks library, I have thought of just doing a Santa parade or maybe a log cabin village. I am still trying to decide which one would be the easiest to do. So we’ll see.
H: Sounds wonderful. I’m looking forward to it myself. I’ll definitely bring the little one out there to look at the exhibit.
H: You have got a very auditory voice. You’re very captivating. Are you planning to do any speaking, or any kind of presentations other than just to doing, doing the exhibits? Do you do any presentations as well or any talks?
G: I think mostly, when I’m leading a workshop like the one I would do on the Christmas village, I’m always there doing, the instructing of how to put it together and all of that. I have done presentations of different kinds throughout my life. I just can’t think of all of them right now, but I have done things. I was interviewed on one of the TV stations. One time I did an exhibit down on second street or deep deuce, which was the, jazz area of Oklahoma city. This was way back in the 1990s or maybe even the 1980s. When I was at the downtown library and I had an exhibit upstairs in the building of the old library and I had all these jazz albums and all of these instruments I found here and there and that I had borrowed from different friends and whatever. And we had all kinds of things going with the, what was then called the Charlie Christian festival. I was involved in the library doing a big exhibit and they invited me to go to channel five and do an interview. It was fun.
H: You’re staying busy in your retirement.
G: That’s for sure.
Doing the things that you love and, you know, we definitely, Thank you so much for sharing your story with us today,. Your work is truly making a difference, even if it’s one person at a time or a bigger audience, and we’re definitely honored to have you on the show.
To our listeners, thank you for tuning in to this episode of TopSpeed160, and if you’re inspired by Phil ‘s story and you want to get more involved, we’ll have more information at the topspeed160.com website and as well.
H: if anybody needs to get in touch with you, do you have a way that they can get a hold of you?
G: Well, just contact you. If they contact you, then you contact me and then we’ll we’ll get together.
H: Thank you so much and see you everybody on the next episode.