To further educate students about black leaders in American history, the University's Institute for Public History and the Darden School have teamed up to work on an innovative program entitled "Explorations in Black Leadership."
With videotaped interviews from prominent black leaders as well as a public forum to be held next Wednesday, the project hopes to teach the community about civil rights and leave a legacy for generations to come. In the future, the project organizers plan to create an online resource library with the materials they gather.
The venture will be under the direction of Julian Bond, national chairman of the NAACP and University lecturer. Bond played an active role in the American civil rights movement in the 1960s.
The project "has unlimited potential and will enlighten the community of law, government, African affairs and race relations," said Bond, who intends to expand the amount of documented material dealing with the civil rights movement.
Bond will videotape interviews with visiting civil rights scholars and activists, especially those who rose to prominence after the Supreme Court's historic Brown v. Board of Education decision, which aimed to eliminate segregation in public schools.
Over the next few years the project will bring key civil rights leaders to Charlottesville, where they will participate in public forums and two-hour videotaped interview sessions.
African Affairs Dean M. Rick Turner said he is ecstatic about the program. Turner said the project "is an exciting and wonderful addition to the University. It will instill a sense of confidence among the students and will instill intellectual discussion on the civil rights movement."
The forum series opens with noted civil rights lawyers Oliver Hill and Henry Marsh at the Law School next Wednesday. Hill is famous for his participation in the Brown v. Board of Education case, and served as director of the Virginia NAACP for 20 years. He has been called one of "the most distinguished and bright attorneys in the country's history." He also won the distinguished Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1999. Oliver White currently is retired at the age of 93.
Former Richmond Mayor Henry Marsh led a coalition of five black city council members that made many historic changes in Richmond, including human rights ordinance, revitalization of downtown Richmond and the appointment of many blacks to government boards and commissions.
Other speakers lined up for future visits are Elaine Jones, president and director of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, and University Law School grad, civil rights lawyer Julius Chambers, chancellor of North Carolina Central University, and Mary Futrell, dean of the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at George Washington University.
"This is a project of vital importance. Developing these materials will help future generations understand the civil rights movement," said Phyllis Leffler, history professor and director of the Institute for Public History.
In turn the tapes will be used for the education of businesses, communities and students of public and private schools.
"A main focus of the Darden School is leadership. The school tries to find people that can create and show leadership qualities. We have to appreciate the individual characteristics of the [civil rights] leaders because of the complications and hardships that they survived," said Phillip Giarmata, Darden vice president of communications.
"I am really excited about this program. It will educate people on the importance of the civil rights movement and will be intellectually stimulating for the staff and students of U.Va.," first-year College student Robbie Robinson said.
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