By Jill Yesko , University Relations
Contact: (336) 334-5371
Posted: 5-2-07
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Students from the Rosetta C. Baldwin School
GREENSBORO, NC – A new exhibit at the High Point Museum is based on research conducted by Dr. Benjamin Filene, director of the public history program at at UNCG. Filene hopes to tell the stories behind students in a 43 year-old black and white photograph.
The picture of students who attended the Rosetta C. Baldwin School in High Point in 1963, is the subject of Filene’s research, which focuses on telling the stories of how ordinary people’s lives create historical narratives.
“This is like detective work,” said Filene. ”Sometimes people think history is just about famous people and big events that grab headlines. We’re trying to tell the stories about ordinary people and their real lives.”
Affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Rosetta C. Baldwin School educated four generations of African Americans in High Point. Baldwin began the school in her living room in 1942.
Filene, along with nine graduate students in the public history program, used marriage certificates, city directories, censuses, land records, birth certificates and other public and archival documents to identify 35 of the 42 students in the photograph. They then recorded interviews with 15 of the students and their relatives to bring their stories to light.
Filene and his students have also been meeting with current members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church as well as representatives from the Rosetta C. Baldwin Museum to learn about the school and its students. The exhibit consists of photographs, quotations and audio excerpts from interviews conducted by Filene and his students.
The exhibit will run from May 4 to August 20 at the High Point Museum.
