AndoverMagSpring2015

Opposite page: A Culture of Resistance:Slavery in America 1619–1861Left: A Triumph for Democracy:The Voting Rights Act of 1965Santosh Dhamat for Howard+Revis Designvisitors could see ordinary people, likethemselves, doing extraordinary thingsto achieve change.”These “ordinary people” included:• Claudette Colvin, a 16-year-old whostood up on a bus to protest segregationnine months before RosaParks did the same• Jo Ann Robinson, who stayed upall night and mimeographed morethan 50,000 leaflets that led to theMontgomery Bus Boycott• Diane Nash, who insisted theFreedom Rides continue despiteviolent protests against them• Daisy Bates, who arranged for ministersto safely escort nine black students(a.k.a. the Little Rock Nine)past hordes of angry segregationistsand into a white Arkansas school• Amelia Boynton, a key figurein organizing the Selma toMontgomery marches• Bayard Rustin, a primary orchestratorof the March on Washingtonwhose role was sidelined because ofhis sexual orientationThis effort was led by Dr. HasanJeffries, associate professor of historyat Ohio State University and an experton civil rights and the Black PowerMovement. “We wanted the NationalCivil Rights Museum experience tobe like when you visit the battlefield atGettysburg,” Jeffries said. “You can stepwhere they stepped, walk where theywalked. Jeff and his team understoodand worked toward that.”Jeffries also helped craft a moreaccurate picture of the civil rightsmovement’s successes and failures.“This wasn’t a perpetual movement ofprogress. Success was not guaranteed,and there were many more failures thanvictories.” As an example, he pointsto the fact that it took a decades-longlegal strategy after the Brown v. Boardof Education decision ending schoolsegregation to make significant progress.The museum demonstrates this bytaking the visitor from a courtroom to aclassroom.Jeffries also was pleased with howHoward’s team handled more sensitivetopics, such as the Black PowerMovement. “Many museums won’tdiscuss it at all. But very early on, Jeffrealized that if we gave it the propercontext, people would understand themovement not as a radical break butas a logical extension of communityorganizing and frustration.”|Students Head South toConnect Past with PresentPhillips Academy’s connection tothis historic renovation will comefull circle in June when a group of13 students and faculty travel tothe National Civil Rights Museumas part of the school’s AmericanCivil Rights Movement ImmersionProgram tour of the Deep South.Six years in the making, the newprogram is the brainchild of JudithWombwell, instructor and chair of theDepartment of Theatre and Dance, andis funded by a generous Abbot AcademyAssociation grant. A Memphis native,Wombwell was in the city when Dr.King was assassinated. “It made such ahuge impression on me,” she says. “Themuseum captures King and the movementin such an informative, moving,and comprehensive way. It will be oneof the culminating events of our trip.”Wombwell founded the program togive Andover students historical contextfor today’s civil rights landscape.“This movement is not over. There willalways be injustice to fight. But it canbe a call to action, to understand thatwe still have poverty, income inequality,and racism. It’s crucial to understandwhy we still have these problems andwhat we can do to begin solving them.”•1998The Working Group onDomestic Partners in Dormitoriesshares faculty perspectives onsame-sex house counselors.•1999| | | The Board of Trustees votes inThe 2004 Strategic Planfavor of allowing same-sex facultycouples to be dorm parents.•2004makes access a priority.Andover | Spring 201547