Multiple Keene State College students and faculty members spent their Spring Break traveling from New Hampshire to Alabama and exploring historical Civil Rights locations along the way.
Keene State College’s Dr. Dottie Morris, the Associate Vice President for Institutional Equity and Diversity, and Dr. Taneem Husain, an Assistant Professor in the Women’s and Gender Studies Department, organized a Spring Break trip for a group of students to explore different parts of the United States that were related to different historical moments of the Civil Rights Movement.
Senior Paula Durant attended the trip, and when determining what made her want to attend, she stated, “I work at the cultural center and I heard some excitement about the trip from other students that work there, and I know that Civil Rights, specifically in the United States, is something that I’m very passionate about and the trip had a lot of overlap with my Holocaust and Genocide Studies major as well so it was something I was really interested in going to.”
Durant had trouble deciding on a favorite part of the trip. “I feel like it’s really difficult to pick out my favorite or most memorable part because each stop was so significant but I do have to say one that really sticks out to me in my head was when we stopped in Selma, Alabama, and we saw the Edmund Pettus Bridge and we walked through together,” she said. “Not only was the sight really impactful but the conversations that we had together afterwards, just as a group of students and faculty members, was really impactful.”
Regarding what she believed was the biggest takeaway from the trip, Durant said, “My biggest takeaway was learning how different Civil Rights Movements have so much overlap with one another. As we went to the different stops and were reflecting with one another we were able to find so many seams that connected with one another and I think that was really impactful for everyone.”
When describing how the trip came about, Morris said, “I had the idea that it would be great, because we were talking about social justice, to have the opportunity to see some of the historical sites related to civil rights. It was just an idea and we decided to do it this year, it was originally slated for four students but it became seven students.”
When giving an overview of the trip, Morris explained, “We started off, we went from Keene to New York City, we went to a couple museums and we spent time in Harlem, and we did a walking tour of some of the spots that are recommended like the Abyssinian Church and these churches that were really key to the Civil Rights Movement at the time.”
After their trip to New York, the group made their way to Greensboro, N.C., to the International Civil Rights Museum, Morris mentioned that, “that’s where some students had a sit-in at a Woolworth, a popular store at the time that was not allowing black people to sit at the counter. The museum is connected, which I think is great, to that Woolworth.”
Morris mentioned that the students on the trip noticed cultural differences in the South, noting that students told her “people are so polite here and friendly, they couldn’t get over how you say hello and the next thing you know you break out in a conversation with them.”
The trip even expanded from the original vision. Morris explained, “We went from Greensboro and we made an unplanned stop in Atlanta, and we went to the Martin Luther King Center and did a lot there.” Morris noted how students enjoyed seeing the church that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. used to preach in, as well as hearing his speeches over loudspeakers.
Morris said that the group then made their way to Alabama. Regarding the stop in Alabama, Morris specifically noted the importance of going to Selma. “We went to Selma and that was a pretty important piece because the students walked across the infamous bridge and took a bunch of pictures and talked about what the experience was like,” she said.
From Selma, the group traveled to Washington D.C. Morris stated, “Students elected on their own that we would go to the African American Museum. It was quite intense, but we had a wonderful time. People were good sports the whole time and we laughed a lot.”
When discussing her favorite part of the trip, Morris described being gifted a T-shirt by the students on the trip. “I was really moved by that because I was really surprised when they said, ‘We have something for you.’ They gave me a T-shirt which I will cherish forever from the King Center.”
Morris further explained how the Martin Luther King Center as a whole was her favorite part of the trip. “We were not planning it, just one student said, ‘Are we going to stop in Atlanta?’ and I said, ‘We can,’ so I think it was that it was unplanned and spontaneous and I think the students really did gain a lot from all of the moving pieces that existed in that specific area,” she said.
When discussing the importance of student input when going on trips such as this, Morris said, “That’s the big thing, how do we create something where students are saying, ‘This is important to me so I would like to do it’? And so instead of forcing something else, we made the decision that we would go to Atlanta.”
When discussing what some of the largest benefits of the trip were, Morris stated, “Seeing how far Montgomery was from Selma because that was part of the walk, it was from Selma to Montgomery and even when you’re in a van you see that that was a long distance to walk under distress.” Another benefit Morris mentioned was related to something she overheard a student say. “I overheard someone say, ‘It’s important I read about this, but it feels different actually seeing these things.’ The idea that they sort of immersed themselves in these experiences let me know that they were putting some things together,” she said.
Regarding similar potential future trips, Morris said, “I would love to do future trips. I would love to find ways to raise the funds to be able to do it because the funds we used were donated by an anonymous donor.”
Morris continued, “I really want to make sure we can fundraise and eventually we can take buses instead of a van and most of the things we did, which I thought was incredible, were free.”
The Equinox contacted sophomore Donta Selden for comment. They did not respond by the print deadline.
Zach Murphy can be contacted at
zmurphy@kscequinox.com
