The Islamic Center of Greater Toledo: Celebrating the History of Northwest Ohio's Muslim Community

On May 5, 2019, the BGSU Center for Archival Collections (CAC), in partnership with the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo (ICGT), hosted a public Community Scan Day at the ICGT, to which members of the greater Toledo community were invited to bring any archival materials they may have in their personal possession - including documents, photographs, printed ephemera, audio recordings, etc. - that document the history of Northwest Ohio's Muslim community.

Materials brought to the event by participants were digitized onsite by CAC staff, and both the original and digital copies of the materials were then returned to their owners.  With the owners' permission, the CAC also maintained digital copies of the materials for its own collections.  The Community Scan Day was made possible by a Common Heritage grant awarded to the CAC and ICGT by the National Endowment for the Humanities. 

This exhibit brings together a selection of images contributed by several individuals during the Community Scan Day.  Images document the opening of Toledo's first Islamic Center in 1954; the building of the ICGT's present-day mosque in the early 1980s; the people who have nurtured, grown, and sustained the ICGT over the decades; and Muslims' engagement in the greater Toledo community.