Posted on Nov 12, 2009

March on Selma; civil rights mini-term

A dozen Union students will spend a big chunk of winter break on the road, following the celebrated path of our nation’s Civil Rights Movement.

Beginning in Charleston, S.C., on Dec. 1, they’ll wind their way through nine cities in seven states to experience historical sites firsthand and speak with individuals who lived the moments commemorated by museums and landmarks.

“We’ll meet two of the Little Rock Nine, one of the original 1961 CORE Freedom Riders and the Rev. C.T. Vivian, a major civil rights leader and close ally of Martin Luther King Jr.,” said Melinda Lawson, Department of History lecturer.

“We’ll also meet with a woman who was at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., on the day of the bombing. She was a friend of the four girls who were killed.”

The inaugural Civil Rights Public History Mini-term (HIS 277T) culminates in New Orleans Dec. 18.

“We want to teach students about the most transformative social movement of the 20th century,” Lawson said. “The election of Barack Obama has highlighted the profound accomplishments of the Civil Rights Movement. But at the same time, every day we are reminded how much work there is to be done to achieve full equality for all Americans.”

Lawson began brainstorming the mini-term several years ago while thinking about how to teach history in a palpable way. She then turned to Maggie Tongue, director of Post-Baccalaureate Fellowships, shortly after Union introduced a public history program.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

The two were encouraged by the desires and passions of then-sophomores Jared Gourrier, Ewodaghe Harrell and Peter Haviland-Eduah (now seniors).

“All expressed a strong interest in the trip,” Lawson said. “It became our goal to make it happen before they graduated. And we did, just in time.”

Both Lawson and Tongue will make the trip with the 12 students, whose majors and interests span all disciplines.

In addition to tours of key sites and meetings with individuals from that time and place in history, there will be workshops and classes in hotels and on the bus, so students can process and discuss both the meaning of the movement and its commemoration.

“There’s a sense that this history is starting to be lost,” Tongue said. “The Civil Rights Movement is often not covered in high school. In their mini-term application essays, students noted that this history is very relevant to them, and yet they know little of it. So we are not only filling a gap in knowledge, we are providing them an opportunity to connect with our shared history.”

It’s this chance to connect that matters most to Haviland-Eduah, a history and Africana Studies major.

“This trip is not so much about what I want to learn, it’s about what I want to feel,” he said. “Standing on the same land, under the same sky, as those who came before us will be a very emotional experience for me.

“I see this, in a sense, as a pilgrimage to pay respect to those who gave so much to make the U.S. a place where diversity is more celebrated,” he added. “The people of the Civil Rights Movement revolutionized the way this country thought, and being immersed in that will be a powerful thing.”

Making the trip a reality took not only hard work, but the financial support of a dedicated alumna. Mini-terms are not covered by financial aid, and in the spirit of the Civil Rights Movement, Lawson and Tongue decided that no student should be kept from applying because of limited resources.

With the help of students, Lawson and Tongue conducted a campaign to cover the cost of scholarships.

“We are extremely grateful to Dr. Estelle Cooke-Sampson, a 1974 graduate of Union, who shared our belief in the importance of today’s students learning about the enormous contributions of the Civil Rights Movement,” Lawson said. “Her generosity – along with the generosity of other donors – allowed us to put in for course approval and begin seriously planning.”  

Harrell, Haviland-Eduah and Gourrier will be joined by fellow seniors Marissa Gaines, Elizabeth Mariapen, Aaron Ray, James Schellens and Sarah Tardiff; juniors Sarayfah Bolling, Georgia Swan-Ambrose and Amanda Egan; and sophomore Jessica Johnson.