REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED

CONTACT PAM TRACY @ tracypj@longwood.edu for space availability

Campus and Community: Engaging Students with the Moton Museum

Longwood University Teaching and Learning Institute

sponsored by

The Robert Russa Moton Museum, located in the National Historic Landmark Moton High School, is Virginia’s only civil rights museum. The Museum chronicles the struggle for educational equality in Prince Edward County from 1951-1964, and explores how Prince Edward citizens used the tools of American democracy to expand freedom and create social change for all Americans. 2021 marks the 70th anniversary of the 1951 Moton student strike and the 20th anniversary of the Moton Museum being open to the public.

In 1951, Barbara Johns, a 16-year-old junior, led more than 450 of her fellow Moton high school students in a strike to protest overcrowding and inadequate conditions. This strike launched a 13-year struggle for better educational opportunities in Prince Edward County. The court case that arose from the strike was one of the five cases decided by the Supreme Court in its 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, which declared segregation in public education unconstitutional. In response to Brown, the Commonwealth of Virginia launched a campaign of Massive Resistance. In 1959, Prince Edward County defied a court order to desegregate the public schools and closed them instead. Schools remained closed for five years. It took another Supreme Court decision, Griffin v. Prince Edward County, to reopen the public schools in 1964.

The Moton Story is a story of student engagement and meaningful collaboration. This institute aims to bring together faculty and staff from multiple disciplinary perspectives to explore how Moton history can serve as a foundation for significant learning experiences that challenge our students to engage in reflection, critical thinking, collaboration, and civic engagement in the context of American democratic institutions. We designed a one-day program to meet the needs of participants who have varying degrees of knowledge and experience with the Moton Story.

The Institute is free for all faculty and staff at Longwood University, Hampden-Sydney College, and Southside Community College. We plan to have both in-person and online options for participants. Registration will begin in a few weeks.

For more information, please contact Dr. Pamela Tracy @ tracypj@longwood.edu.