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Civil Rights History Tour Photo Exhibition
During Spring Break, twelve Upper School students and three faculty members headed south for St. Luke’s Civil Rights Study Tour. This powerful trip was the inspiration for a new photo exhibit: Civil Rights History: Who We Are and Who We Can Become—A Travel Learning Experience. Each member of the trip selected at least one photograph and wrote about why that particular image captured an important moment or memory. The exhibit is in the St. Luke’s Art Gallery through April 5.
This is the message shared at the beginning of the exhibit:
We traveled to sites in Georgia and Alabama over the first week of spring break to study and experience together the places and people that were central to the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s—and to consider the legacy of that movement for racial justice today:
Ebenezer Baptist Church—Atlanta, GA
Busy Bee Cafe—Atlanta, GA
The Center for Civil and Human Rights—Atlanta, GA
The Legacy Museum—Montgomery, AL
The National Memorial for Peace and Justice—Montgomery, AL
Dexter Parsonage Museum—Montgomery, AL
Kelly Ingram Memorial Park—Birmingham, AL
16th Street Baptist Church—Birmingham, AL
Edmund Pettus Bridge—Selma, AL
Brown Chapel AME Church—Selma, AL
Some of the most important elements of the trip were not the places but the people. We were fortunate to reconnect with Anthony Ray Hinton, who visited St. Luke’s in December and who generously spent an afternoon walking with us through the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. We met with Joanne Bland, born and raised in Selma and among the youngest to march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965, and we learned from her stories as she guided us through her town. Countless other conversations with people we met along the way, the time to write in our journals and think privately, and the time to share and reflect as a group, combined for a remarkable experience that none of us will ever forget. We hope this exhibit inspires you to reflect, learn, and act.
The exhibit is presented by Chuck Clemons ‘20, Tasia Courts ‘20, Alex Hazlin ‘20, Upper School History Department Chair Jason Haynes, Pamela Jaramillo ‘19, Janelle Johnson ‘20, Aisha Memon ‘21, Nicole Mulleady ‘20, Head of Upper School Liz Perry, Zaire Profit ‘21, Jordan Robinson ‘20, Maddy Sead ‘19, Raven Sead ‘19, Assistant Upper School Dean of Students Noel Thomas, and Lexi Watson ‘20.
Special thanks to Center for Leadership Director of Global Education Beth Yavenditti and Upper School Art Department Chair Sean Lynch without whom the trip and exhibit would not have been possible.
St. Luke’s School is a secular (non-religious), private school in New Canaan, CT for grades 5 through 12 serving over 35 towns in Connecticut and New York. Our exceptional academics and diverse co-educational community foster students’ intellectual and ethical development and prepare them for top colleges. St. Luke’s Center for Leadership builds the commitment to serve and the confidence to lead.
