My ‘Why’s’ For this Work
I do this work to honor my ancestors, and to connect people with their history.
Savannah Wood
Executive Director
Connect With Me
What I Do at Work
As the Executive Director of Afro Charities, I lead the charge to increase access to the 130+-year-old AFRO American Newspapers’ extensive archives. Since stepping into this role in 2019, I have shepherded the organization through a period of historic growth, initiated new programming, and attracted support from national funders including the Mellon Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and The Ruth Foundation for the Arts.
My Background
I have deep roots in both Baltimore and Los Angeles.
I am an artist who has worked primarily in photography, text and installation to explore how spirituality, domesticity, and our relationships to place shape our identities. My projects reconnect people with the everyday beauty of our world and the histories that lie hidden below the surface.
I am a graduate cum laude of the University of Southern California, a member of the 2023 class of The Leadership Baltimore, a 2022 Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund fellow, 2022 Creative Capital finalist, and a 2019 - 2021 Robert W. Deutsch Foundation fellow. Like four generations of ancestors before me, I live and work in Baltimore, Maryland, sharing and preserving Black stories.
Collection Items that Resonate with Me:
From the AFRO Collection:
Archivist Oyinda Omoloja found this image in the collection and it absolutely FLOORED me. These are my great great grandparents (founders of the AFRO), their son, and likely their grandson, posing for a photograph in a rural setting. This could very well be the land where Martha Howard Murphy (seated at center) was formerly enslaved, but which her family came to own. Not confirmed, but one can dream!
An Object From My Personal Collection
This photo from 1995 or 1996 was taken soon after my family relocated from Berkeley, CA back to Baltimore, MD. My cousin Aaron and I had already been put to work selling papers on the street during our grandmother's annual "Camp Granny," but AFRO leadership took it a step further by getting us model for their ad campaign, too! Nearly 30 years later, I'm still working in the family lineage, but this time, as Executive Director of Afro Charities, the nonprofit organization that manages the AFRO's rich archival collections (including this image!).