Estey Hall at Shaw University RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA Before the Civil War, African Americans were systematically prevented from learning to read and write, and denied access to any type of formal educational settings. But as the years passed, in part because of protest movements, lawsuits and other actions, the tide began to change, leading to the establishment of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). It was at these institutions that African Americans received primary, secondary and, in some cases, postsecondary education. Among them was Shaw University, the first HBCU in the South. “Shaw University is a landmark for civil rights, education and the First Amendment,” said a university spokesperson. “Shaw accepted its first women students in 1866. It first began boarding women in 1870, and as a result, Estey Hall was erected in 1873.” By Keenan Hairston, courtesy VisitRaleigh.com Named in honor of business leader and philanthropist Jacob Estey, who underwrote funding for the building, Estey Hall is the first building in the U.S. designated for the higher education of women of color, the first dormitory for women on a coeducational campus and Shaw University’s oldest surviving building. Robert Russa Moton High School and Museum In the 1960s, student and young civil FARMVILLE, VIRGINIA rights activist Ella Jo Baker made one of her most indelible marks on this country here by helping to establish the Student Nonviolent In 1951, 450 Black students staged a walkout to protest the deplorCoordinating Committee. able overcrowding and structural conditions at Robert Russa Moton Estey Hall remained a women’s dorm until High School. With guidance from the NAACP, the event grew from a 1968, when it became a dormitory for men, later local protest into the only student-initiated case among the five lawsuits closing in 1970. Today it serves as the university’s under the umbrella of Brown v. Board of Education. main administration building. The general public In Farmville, the battle lasted 13 years: Upon losing the lawsuit, can visit the campus, and special arrangements Prince Edward County decided to close all of its schools for five years can be made to tour the Estey Hall building. — 1959 to 1964 — rather than desegregate. As such, those Black stuSHAWU.EDU dents also suffered as “The Walk-Out Generation” and “The Lock-Out Generation.” In 1964, the Griffin v. Prince Edward Supreme Court decision eventually reopened the schools. “The Moton School story is one of young citizens using the tools of a constitutional democracy to help bring about change,” said Cameron Patterson, executive director of the museum. “The immediate site surrounding the museum has changed little since 1951, [and] the development of the visitor experience has been planned to restore and preserve the historic views of the building and grounds from the site’s period of significance. The auditorium is the site of the student strike and, therefore, a very important place for us to introduce visitors to this piece of American history.” Now a National Historic Landmark, the school and museum are also featured on the Civil Rights in Education Heritage Trail. Downtown, visitors can embark upon a two-mile Farmville Civil Rights Walking Tour that features 17 places of civil rights significance between 1951 and 1964. MOTONMUSEUM.ORG
ESTEY HALL
AT SHAW UNIVERSITY
ROBERT RUSSA MOTON
HIGH SCHOOL Courtesy Robert Russa Moton High School & Museum
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