African American Registry

CTL-E-5253 · Organization · other · 1999–present

VERIFIED evidence grade of this record

The African American Registry is a Minneapolis, Minnesota–based nonprofit that maintains one of the most comprehensive online databases of African American heritage. Its founder, Benjamin Mchie — a Minneapolis radio broadcaster and camera operator — conceived the Registry in 1999 after watching a television obituary for federal judge Frank Johnson, a pivotal civil-rights jurist he had never heard of, and resolving that Black history should be learned every day, not only in February. He launched the site shortly afterward and remains the Registry's executive director. The Registry publishes thousands of biographical and historical entries, a “Voices That Guide Us” library of more than 2,000 video interviews built since 2006, poetry, and classroom resources including a Teachers Forum. In CultureTechLens research the Registry serves as an evidence source: CTL's Johnson Publishing Company dossier (CTL-RD-BIZ-000001) cites it among the founding evidence for the publisher of Ebony and Jet.

The record

• Also known as: The African American Registry

Notes

Staged 2026-10-15 under CTL-GOV-006; Gate A clear; Gate B met (4 sources incl. the organization's own site as primary). CTL treatment: cited as an evidence source in CTL-RD-BIZ-000001 (Johnson Publishing Company dossier), §16 evidence précis for founding claims C-001–C-003; named in 34 CTL research files per the 2026-10-15 corpus gap scan. Founding-year treatment (disclosed, not hidden): no located source states a formal founding year; the era opens at the documented 1999 conception, the site launched shortly afterward (East Side Freedom Library profile), and the IRS exempt ruling is dated August 2004 — the packet red team flags the formal founding year UNRESOLVED rather than assert one. Statistics carried: 7,000+ articles and 2,000+ video interviews (Registry's own published figures, checked 2026-10-15; self-reported). Photo slot: HELD — no rights-cleared image of the organization located; its own site photography is all-rights-reserved and no Commons or open-access file exists.

Sources

• African American Registry (official site), Board of Directors / About Us — Benjamin Mchie, Executive Director — https://aaregistry.org/about-us/ (primary source)
• East Side Freedom Library, “Ben Mchie” (profile: founder of the African American Registry; 1999 Frank Johnson obituary as the Registry's originating moment) — https://eastsidefreedomlibrary.org/ben-mchie-2/
• University of Minnesota School of Nursing, “Mchie's advocacy earns school's highest honor for non-nurses” (founder and executive director of the nonprofit African American Registry) — https://nursing.umn.edu/news-events/mchies-advocacy-earns-schools-highest-honor-non-nurses
• IRS-derived nonprofit directory record, African American Registry, Minneapolis, MN (EIN 01-0787894; 501(c)(3); ruling date August 2004) — https://nonprofitlocator.org/organizations/mn/minneapolis/010787894-african-american-registry

Record CTL-E-5253 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · evidence grade: VERIFIED · 4 sources (1 primary) · CTL research: PPL-001.
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