DOVE: A Decade of Difference

Tagline The Robert Russa Moton Museum is the student birthplace of America's Civil Rights Revolution.

Partners, Funders Altria Group, Cabell Foundation, Dominion Resources, Institute of Museum and Library Services, Mary Morton Parsons Foundation, National Education Association, Prince Edward County, Virginia Tobacco Commission, U.S. Department of Education, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, VDOT Enhancement Program, Virginia Tobacco Commission, USDA-Rural Development, Virginia Community Capital. Hundreds of individual donors helped to support our Moton 2011 Campaign and continue to support the museum via annual giving.

Timeframe The restoration of the Museum and creation of the permanent exhibition took place between the timeframe of 2008 - 2013. In 2015 we also completed our Tar Paper Shack Building which provides additional meeting space and helps to accommodate large tour groups.

The Need The ultimate need was the renovation of the former Robert Russa Moton High School which now serves as the Robert Russa Moton Museum. In addition to the need to renovate and preserve the building there was also a need to create a permanent exhibition that would tell the story of Prince Edward County Citizens and the leading role that they played in America's transition from segregation toward integration. The Museum helps to tell the story, serves as a learning lab for visitors, and has been a healing ground for those impacted by the history.

The Solution The Moton Story: Children of Courage is a six gallery, 5,500 square feet permanent exhibition that chronicles the stories of Prince Edward citizens as they moved their community and all of America from a segregated to an integrated society between 1951-1964. Visitors can sit in the same auditorium where on April 23rd, 1951, Barbara Johns and her fellow classmates made history.

Between 2008-2011 the work at the museum included creation of the film Strike: A Call to Action that chronicles the student walkout of April 23rd, 1951. It also included restoration of the Auditorium (Gallery 1), preparation work for exhibit galleries (II-VI), renovation of the Gift Shop, Offices, Board Room, and Restrooms. In 2012 - 2013 work continued onsite at the Moton Museum. This included the fabrication and installation of the exhibit galleries (II-VI), and the parking lot and bus pull off. Later work has included the our Tar Paper Shack Building and landscaping.

Impact In 1951 in Farmville, Virginia, sixteen-year-old Barbara Johns bravely organized and inspired her fellow 450 students to walk out of school and protest the overcrowded and inadequate conditions at Prince Edward County's all-black Robert Russa Moton High School. This strike launched a 13-year struggle for better educational opportunities in Prince Edward County that emblematized the youth-driven efforts for civil rights across the United States. The court case that arose from the strike was one of the five cases decided by the Supreme Court in its 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision. It was the only case initiated by students.

Following that court decision, in 1959 Prince Edward County became the only school district in the nation to close its public schools for five years rather than desegregate. "Massive Resistance" was the strategy by Virginia's white politicians in the late 1950s to prevent public school desegregation after Brown v. Board of Education. Under the leadership of the Rev. L. Francis Griffin and with the aid of the Kennedy administration, another suit made it to the Supreme Court to reopen the public schools in 1964. The story of civil rights in Prince Edward County and Virginia teaches people about the capacity of everyday, local people to use their constitutional rights to create lasting social change. It is a powerful and moving story of resilience. The museum and exhibition also makes a impact by helping individuals relate historical content and events to their own lives. Museums and historic landmarks have the distinct ability to immerse visitors in a sense of time and place. The authenticity of historical sites, objects and artifacts, and first-person accounts help visitors engage with history on a deeper level. To see and hear the voices of people involved in the Moton story is a powerful experience.

What's Next? The Moton has now operated for almost two decades, and the permanent exhibition is nearing five years old. With a new partnership established with Longwood University in 2015 that provides financial stability, we are well positioned to embark on our next stage of growth. With a strong infrastructure in place and growing audiences, the museum is examining how it can better serve younger audiences (K-8) and make the museum experience more engaging to learners of multiple ages and abilities. Additionally we will continue to respond to our various facilities needs in order s to maintain this National Historical Landmark or future generations.