The Freedman’s Cemetery in Dallas, Texas, is a powerful memorial to the lives of more than 1,100 formerly enslaved people and their descendants. But it wasn’t always so. In the decades after its Reconstruction-era founding, the cemetery was desecrated and the burial markers removed.
When the site was finally excavated and restored, scholars learned more about the identities of the individuals interred there. Among them was one woman who had been laid to rest wearing something unusual: a handmade pin engraved with her name — Lorena.
On “Preservation for the People,” a new podcast series created by the UCLA/Getty Interdepartmental Program in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage in partnership with the Black Art Conservators group, stories like this one are brought to light as examples of the transformative work of preserving Black history, heritage and culture. “To hear the echo of someone’s name from the past, cutting through the visceral violence that has shaped how we’ve come to it, I think is pretty significant,” Stanford archaeologist Ayana Flewellen said on the podcast.
Made possible through a UCLA Racial and Social Justice Seed Grant, the series was launched by Anya Dani, director of community engagement and inclusive practice at the UCLA/Getty program, and globe-trotting UCLA professor and archaeologist Justin Dunnavant. It provides a platform for urgent conversations that too often remain unheard in a predominantly white profession: of conservators in the U.S., less than 1% are Black, Dani said.
“‘Preservation for the People’ highlights stories that we, as Black art conservators and preservationists, care about,” Dani said. “We are centering Black voices in the discussion of real, grassroots preservation campaigns.”
How ‘Preservation for the People’ came about
An objects conservator with more than two decades of cultural heritage experience, Dani united with colleagues across the country in 2020 to cofound Black Art Conservators amid the racial reckoning that followed the murder of George Floyd. As museums and universities issued statements of solidarity, the group called for more tangible support for Black lives and culture.
Two years later, Dani brought her community-centered approach to campus, joining professor and UCLA/Getty program chair Glenn Wharton in efforts to expand inclusivity in the university’s nationally recognized conservation program. In this role, Dani forms collaborations with local museums and cultural institutions, provides new learning opportunities for UCLA students and finds ways to give back to the community.
“Preservation for the People” is an apex of these efforts, uniting UCLA faculty, staff and students with members of the BAC collective to weave a tapestry of voices from the field. The program is cohosted by Nylah Byrd and Kayla Henry-Griffin, two emerging conservators and members of BAC. Together, they conduct in-depth interviews with scholars such as Flewellen — who, with Dunnavant, cofounded the Society of Black Archaeologists — and Kwesi Daniels, head of Tuskegee University’s architecture department.
Through a conservator spotlight feature, they also thoughtfully engage fellow BAC members such as LaStarsha McGarity, co-director of the Legacy Museum at Tuskegee University, and Ariana Makau, founder of the Bay Area stained glass preservation studio Nzilani Glass Conservation.
Each installment offers an inside look at Black preservation through the lens of a topical theme. An episode titled “Archiving Everyday Blackness,” for example, highlights the power and significance of so-called ordinary elements of Black life and culture, challenging the societal expectation that Black individuals must be the first, best or most extraordinary at what they do in order to be recognized and celebrated.
Byrd and Henry-Griffin begin the episode by reflecting on objects from their own lives — a favorite stuffed animal from childhood, family heirlooms, even a TV set one of them had growing up — that are meaningful because of the stories associated with them. They turn to Flewellen for insights from the world of archaeology, including the exploration of Black women’s clothing and adornment as a means of shaping identity. And they hear from Makau about histories deeply rooted in architectural settings.
The inclusion of a range of professionals — from conservators to architects, archaeologists, librarians, archivists and beyond — is central to the team’s core mission, according to Dani. Noting that the podcast would not have been possible without Dunnavant, an archaeologist who has supported BAC from the beginning, she stressed the importance of support networks among Black preservation professionals as well as the rich diversity of their perspectives and experiences.
“We are not a monolith,” Dani said. “You can approach preservation work from many directions, and so we wanted to be inclusive; we realized that we all needed to work together.”

Goals of the ‘Preservation for the People’ podcast
Makayla Rawlins, a third-year graduate student and member of the podcast team, said she chose UCLA for her master’s work because of the UCLA/Getty program’s commitment to inclusivity. She and Dani connected immediately when both joined the program around the same time.

Black History Month
This spotlight series is part of an ongoing effort to feature stories from across the UCLA campus spotlighting Black voices, histories and research. Read more
“She knew that I wanted to work with Black communities and learn more about conservators of color,” said Rawlins, who is set to graduate this June. “So, when she told me about the podcast, I jumped at the chance to lift up Black voices, learn more about people in the field who look like me and think like me, and broaden my knowledge more generally.”
Participating as a student researcher, she said, has been an eye-opening experience.
“I hope more of these voices are lifted up, because a lot of the individuals that I researched, I didn't know anything about them or their careers,” Rawlins said. “I think people could learn so much by hearing from these individuals about what they do.”
With three full episodes and one bonus episode completed with support from the seed grant, Dani said the team is actively seeking funding to continue the project. She hopes the podcast’s message will resound across the Black preservation community but also far beyond.
“These are conversations that concern all of us,” Dani said. “We’re hoping our colleagues will listen and hear what we envision the future could look like, and we hope this will inspire them in their own work as well. It’s all part of a greater mission to make conservation more inclusive and to help Black people feel that their cultural heritage is worthy of celebration and preservation.”