Moton 2011: A Permanent Exhibit to Preserve the Moton Museum
Consisting of five galleries, hopes to bring 'national audience' to museum and county
Laura Beth Stricker
Issue date: 4/29/09 Section: Features
Moton Musuem Director Lacy Ward Jr., among others on the Moton Board of Directors, is very enthusiastic about the project dubbed Moton 2011. It is ambitious, but also important to the Moton Museum and the history of Prince Edward County and its fight for civil rights in education.
Reverend Everett Berryman said the museum "tells the story of a county, a people, how society was, both whites and black, stories that have yet to be told." He also said that Ward is "getting it to where it should be." Berryman is referencing Ward's efforts to bring the permanent exhibit into reality.
The Moton 2011 project was launched in April 2008, thanks to the generosity of Dominion Virginia Power, who provided the museum with a $200,000 grant to get started. Since the launch almost a year ago, almost $900,000 has been given through grants from various companies and organizations. In addition, Ward said Congressman Tom Perriello is "requesting that the federal government earmark $900,000 for Moton to support the permanent exhibition." However, the entire exhibit requires a total of $5.5 million in funds.
Dr. Larissa Fergeson, associate professor of history and consultant to the Moton 2011 exhibit, said that despite the great need for funds, the project has made "tremendous success, in terms of fundraising and capacity building. He [Ward] is a tremendous fundraiser. The basic outlines of the exhibit were conceived last year, and now we're in the process of filling in the details."
Robert Hamlin, president of the Moton board of directors, said, "Great progess has been made. We now have an exhibit architectural design company (Jackson /Brady) in place. The next major step is to secure an architect for the restoration of the building. We are also working on getting started with the Oral Histories and filming the reenactment of the April 23rd, 1951 school walkout."
Ward explained the plans for the exhibit in great detail. There are five galleries planned, each specific to a certain time period during the Prince Edward County fight for civil rights in education. The first gallery will focus on the period before 1951, where Ward said the gallery "has to address what was segregation, how we came to April 23, 1951."
Reverend Everett Berryman said the museum "tells the story of a county, a people, how society was, both whites and black, stories that have yet to be told." He also said that Ward is "getting it to where it should be." Berryman is referencing Ward's efforts to bring the permanent exhibit into reality.
The Moton 2011 project was launched in April 2008, thanks to the generosity of Dominion Virginia Power, who provided the museum with a $200,000 grant to get started. Since the launch almost a year ago, almost $900,000 has been given through grants from various companies and organizations. In addition, Ward said Congressman Tom Perriello is "requesting that the federal government earmark $900,000 for Moton to support the permanent exhibition." However, the entire exhibit requires a total of $5.5 million in funds.
Dr. Larissa Fergeson, associate professor of history and consultant to the Moton 2011 exhibit, said that despite the great need for funds, the project has made "tremendous success, in terms of fundraising and capacity building. He [Ward] is a tremendous fundraiser. The basic outlines of the exhibit were conceived last year, and now we're in the process of filling in the details."
Robert Hamlin, president of the Moton board of directors, said, "Great progess has been made. We now have an exhibit architectural design company (Jackson /Brady) in place. The next major step is to secure an architect for the restoration of the building. We are also working on getting started with the Oral Histories and filming the reenactment of the April 23rd, 1951 school walkout."
Ward explained the plans for the exhibit in great detail. There are five galleries planned, each specific to a certain time period during the Prince Edward County fight for civil rights in education. The first gallery will focus on the period before 1951, where Ward said the gallery "has to address what was segregation, how we came to April 23, 1951."
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