The Civil Rights History Project: Survey of Collections and Repositories

Booker T. Washington School oral history

Repository: Booker T. Washington National Monument. National Park Service.

Collection Description (CRHP): Monument staff conducted six oral history interviews in 2008 to explore the history of the Booker T. Washington School in Hardy, Virginia, a black school that now serves as the park headquarters. Interviews with six former students were conducted and explored their time at school as well as the impact of integration on these students. They talked about their favorite part of school, the school principal, and going to other schools once their school closed, among other topics. These interviews cover the years from the early 1950s to the 1960s. Related photographs are featured in a display case at the monument.

Date(s): 2008

Digital Status: Yes

Extent: photographs; 6 digital audio recordings (Windows Media Player files)

Language: English

Related Archival Items: In 1964 monument staff conducted interviews were conducted with Peter and Grover Robertson, members of the family that bought the Virginia piedmont farm from the family that owned Washington and his mother. The memories of the Robertson brothers helped establish placement of many of the present-day reconstructed buildings in the park's historic area.

Rights (CRHP): Contact the repository which holds the collection for information on rights

Subjects:

African American students--Virginia
African Americans--Education--Virginia
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
Civil rights movements--Virginia
School integration--Virginia
Segregation in education--Virginia

Genres:

Interviews
Photographs
Sound recordings