Longwood University is currently in the works of forming a partnership with one of its closest neighbors, the Robert Russa Moton Museum. Currently, there is no estimated date as to when plans for the partnership will be finalized.
The Moton Museum is a national historic landmark, known for its preservation of the history of 16-year-old Barbara Johns’ student-led strike that eventually impacted the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court Case.
Director of the Robert Russa Moton Museum Lacy Ward, Jr. said, “It’s a partnership in the making,” later adding, “It will have tremendous benefit for the region.”
He commented on the cause for the interest in this new partnership, summing it up in one word: “Opportunity.”
He further stated, “Central to the mission of Longwood, of course, is citizen learning ... So, if you’re teaching young people to be citizens. Some of the best teaching comes from exemplars, that is, characters you can get the student to become acquainted with and hope the student will emulate.”
Ward asked, “If right in earshot of Longwood you have a life story of a young woman who at 16 instituted a change in the American republic, which we know as desegregation, why wouldn’t you put that at the base of student learning at the neighboring institution?”
According to the Board of Visitors minutes from Sept. 13 and 14, the partnership between the Moton Museum and Longwood University would be similar to the partnership between the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and the University of Virginia.
Ward spoke on the benefits to expect from a partnership between Longwood University and the Moton Museum. DescribingtheMoton Museum as “not an artifact- rich exhibit,” Ward reported that the partnership will focus on growing the scale of the museum by utilizing space in the Greenwood Library.
Ward stated that there is interest in creating an exhibition in Greenwood Library that would include artifacts “that tell the story [of Barbara Johns].” With this exhibition, Ward hopes that it will create further interest in the public to provide artifacts that relate to the Massive Resistance that affected the Town of Farmville. The plans for Longwood
University to assist the Moton Museum include managing the museum’s human resource management, risk management, financial policies, internal auditing, building maintenance and energy utilization, according to Ward.
How Ward expects the partnership to benefit the university is by giving student teachers – especially those who plan to teach social studies – a better understanding on the Civil Rights era and how it affects education today.
He added, “It gives Longwood as it’s still building on its university status a national story to highlight as something it’s actively engaged that should attract students [and] that should also attract faculty.”
President W. Taylor Reveley IV stated that for the upcoming Virginia General Assembly session beginning Jan. 2014, there will be plans on what “the best structure” for the partnership between Longwood University and the Moton Museum may be, such as how the funding for the Moton Museum will be.
Reveley added, “It will be a bit of an open question how many new things the General Assembly wants to do this session, and if the economy is really tight because of what goes on in Washington, they may not be in as robust a mood to do new things as I hope they will be.”
Ward commented on the Virginia General Assembly’s interest in the planned partnership, saying, “There has been a shift in state policy over time, and I think there is clearly a green light now for Longwood to follow this shift at state policy which now embraces the state history, which in the past the state was embarrassed by because of the position the state took.”
“The history in many ways when spoken about openly and honestly – when it gets out into the open – has a means of reconciliation. What not speaking about it has done has taken a lot of feelings and emotions underground. So, those issues that exist have not been dealt with, and if they’re not dealt with, there’s no ability to resolve them,” Ward said.
Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Tim Pierson commented on the potential partnership between Longwood University and the Moton Museum, saying that already “we are intrinsically all intertwined.”
“It’s part of us. It’s part of our history. It’s part of who we are here,” Pierson said. Pierson spoke positively about the partnership, saying it will “enrich us with a deeper understanding,” further stating, “Students understanding our history and what is unique, and the thing about knowing something about history is knowing something about ourselves.”
Concerning Longwood University’s and the Moton Museum’s relationship with each other already, Ward said, “It’s been building over time, and I think it will continue to build.”
The Robert Russa Moton Museum and Longwood are starting a partnership which will use some space in the library.
