1. Multiplying Memories: Lessons in Leadership
ALUMNI RECOLLECTIONS OF AFRICAN AMERICAN SCHOOLS UNDER SEGREGATION
Education Is About Making Connections—Research • Oral History • Heritage February 2013
WHAT IS PAST IS PROLOGUE
By Cynthia Boteler
Students often comment on how they find history The Tuskegee Airmen paved the way for the Civil
difficult—all those dates and facts. But why is it Rights movement. These men and women became Special Points of interest:
important, and what does it all mean? Who leaders, and the following generations of African
decides what goes into the textbooks? From Americans could point with pride at the Tuskegee STUDENTS HELP PRESERVE LOCAL
whose perspective are we learning about and Airmen, in the air and on the ground, who proved HISTORY.
interpreting history? to the world once more that they were equal to
their European-American counterparts. LEADERSHIP SKILLS LEARNED
Since 2004, my own search to understand my FROM ALUMNI OF SEGREGATED
SCHOOLS.
family’s history led me to ponder these same
questions. What I found was that making a
personal connection to history enables us to start LOCAL SCHOOLS CONNECTED
understanding the implications of the history of TO NATIONAL SCHOOL BUILDING
our nation. However, more is required of us. Can PROGRAM.
we accept the truth of our family’s, community’s,
state’s and country’s role in history—whatever
ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEWS
that may be? Will we make a conscious decision
ARCHIVED IN REGIONAL
to read between the lines, to do our own research
Moton Airfield, Tuskegee, Alabama LIBRARIES.
rather than accept what we are told by family,
friends, teachers and the media?
Upon a recent field trip to Richmond, Virginia AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY IS
How do we feel when we are told, “that’s just the to visit the Museum of the Confederacy, Virginia AMERICAN HISTORY, TWELVE
way it was back then.” But then, you wonder State Capitol and the Civil War Center at MONTHS A YEAR.
about that when you see that not everyone lived Tredegar, students commented that they
that way. Denial rewrites or deletes history, enjoyed the tour of the State Capitol the most
causing confusion. Acceptance fills in the gaps as it presented both the past and the present.
and starts answering the questions. Comments were also made about standing in
the footsteps of history makers.
Inside this issue:
“I BELIEVE THE YOUNG PEOPLE WOULD
These trips highlight the importance of heritage
SEE WHY WE FEEL EDUCATION IS SO tourism as an effective teaching tool. The study
IMPORTANT. IT WAS WORTH THE ORAL HISTORY: PART I 2
of history is about making connections—both
STRUGGLE AND STILL IS." tangible and intangible—to present-day life.
—Watson High School Alumnus It is the job of educators to help students make ORAL HISTORY: PART II 2
Covington, Virginia connections between what they read in the
pages of history to what they are experiencing
DOCUMENTARY FILM 2
Researching African American history has led me today.
to my family’s history on numerous occasions. Prior
to this point, I had never heard of Tuskegee, but LEADERSHIP WORKSHOP 3
On a field trip to Washington, D.C. in 2007,
this past summer, I attended a conference there I passed by the National Archives and saw the
and discovered a family connection. My father, a words, “What is past is prologue,” etched into ROSENWALD SCHOOL 3
fighter pilot in WWII, who was part of the D-Day the north side of the building. These words CONFERENCE AT TUSKEGEE
invasion, returned to the U.S. after flying 80 planted seeds that bring me to this point today. UNIVERSITY
missions, to become a flight instructor in Walter- The essence of Sankofa, a West African
boro, SC. Researching Walterboro, I discovered proverb, states that you must know where you VIRGINIA FOUNDATION FOR 3
that it was where some of the Tuskegee Airmen have been before you know where you are THE HUMANIITIES GRANT
received their advanced flight training. While in going. My hope is that students will begin to
Tuskegee, I visited Moton Airfield where I learned incorporate this concept into their own lives and
that my father is considered a Tuskegee Airman start to search for their past in order to move CYNTHIA BOTELER 4
as is anyone who worked for the program in any forward into their future. BIOGRAPHY
capacity.

2. Multiplying Memories: Lessons in Leadership
ORAL HISTORY PART I—A Sample Oral History Project: Connecting Students to Their Community and
Preserving Local History
College students participated in different Students assisted with the recording of four
aspects of implementing an oral history alumni from two African American schools in
project focusing on the remembrances of the service area of Dabney S. Lancaster
alumni who attended segregated schools Community College, Clifton Forge, Virginia.
in Alleghany and Bath counties in Virginia.
The goal of this project was to provide Cynthia Boteler received funding for
students with a method of self-discovery and both oral history projects from Paul Lee
identification of their story that incorporates Professional Development Grants from
their culture and their region. Students from the Virginia Community College System
different college curriculum interacted and (VCCS) in the Summer of 2010 and
worked on various aspects of a project that 2011, respectively, through Dabney S.
will bring enduring educational value to the Lancaster Community College (DSLCC).
community.
ORAL HISTORY PART II—Multiplying Memories: Researching, Organizing and Archiving the Educational
Experiences of African Americans in the Alleghany Highlands, 1930s to 1960s
A second oral history project, conducted to inventory and digitize the scrapbooks,
in 2011, focused on the Jefferson School, documents and memorabilia pertaining
in Clifton Forge, Virginia, but also to these schools. The long-term goal will
included scanning collections of provide content to create a website for
photographs and documents pertaining an “historic African American school
to other schools in the area, such as community,” enabling alumni and
Watson School in Covington, Virginia. descendants to research their heritage.
The project included preliminary meetings
with alumni who shared details and DSLCC students interviewed alumni and
photographs of their experiences. helped digitally scan and catalogue
Several photographs were loaned for images.
scanning and inclusion in a future project.
Volunteers helped to continue the
interview process, but a major focus was
The Watsonians: These Are Our Stories—Watson Elementary/High School, 1882 to 1966
Supported by Coming to the Table, a high school and several public library
program of the Center for Justice and Peace- Black History programs and other venues.
building at Eastern Mennonite University in
Harrisonburg, Virginia, Boteler’s documentary
film was one of six projects selected nation- Approximately two weeks after the
wide in an effort to support community premiere of the film, Boteler discovered
projects (one hour and twenty-two minute that the two schools in Bath County are
feature length documentary film). Rosenwald Schools, built in 1924-1925
and 1929-1930 as part of the Rosenwald
School building program developed by
The film focuses on the telling of first-hand Booker T. Washington, president of
narratives from the perspective of teachers Mr. and Mrs. W. G. Watson Tuskegee Institute and Julius Rosenwald,
and students who were among the genera- president of Sears Roebuck Company.
tions of African American families who Roanoke native, Montres Henderson Between 1912 and 1932, approximately
attended segregated schools before federal and his crew filmed during the12th 5,000 Rosenwald schools were built across
legislation mandated integration. The film has annual Watson School Reunion in 2010. fifteen states in the south.
three parts: Education, Football and Mr. Henderson edited the film along with
Integration. Excerpts from alumni interviews Ms. Boteler and Ms. Perlista Henry, a
are woven into the documentary, interspersed 1964 graduate of Watson School. Ms.
with historic photographs of four different Henry narrated and Ms. Boteler filmed
communities in Alleghany and Bath Counties in the Bath County portion of the film and
Virginia. Yearbook photographs, mementos assembled all of the photographs and
and memorabilia belonging to various alumni narrative. To date, approximately 1,400
were also included. people have viewed the film at college,
Page 2

3. Multiplying Memories: Lessons in Leadership
Workshop Developed for Black Leadership Conference
Multiplying Memories: Lessons in Leadership
The goal is for students to develop
is a 50-minute multimedia presentation
and value tools through which they can
developed for and presented at the 5 th
embrace and acknowledge contributions
Annual Black Leadership Conference, LIFE
and lessons from the past and translate
(Living Intentionally for Excellence) 101: It’s
them into meaningful applications to the
A Celebration, hosted by Virginia Western
present. The experience is expected to
Community College in Roanoke, Virginia in
impact workshop participants to the
February of 2012.
extent that they will rededicate them-
selves to their personal, educational
Highlights of the oral history projects and Despite the many challenges faced by and occupational goals.
documentary film provided the basis for both teachers and students in the small,
creating Multiplying Memories: Lessons in rural segregated Black schools in Virginia’s Students are challenged to start a
Leadership. The workshop encouraged Western Highlands, the overriding theme Multiplying Memories program in their
students to make connections with local that permeated the oral history project was community. The goal is to eventually have
history, community service projects and the unwavering focus on excellence. The a program in all 23 community colleges in
education to their future as leaders in the teachers expected no less than excellence in Virginia.
community and in the workplace. Partici- student performance, and as such, the pride in
pants discussed the meaning of leadership the schools is evident—during every interview
as exemplified in the film and the role of and every scene of the film.
community.
National Rosenwald School Conference: “Celebrating 100 years of Pride, Progress and Preservation”
Sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation
During the closing plenary session at the Education, denied to the enslaved by
National Rosenwald School Conference, law, was of paramount importance
Jacquelyn Days Serwer, Chief Curator for the during Reconstruction and still is to this
Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of day. Religion and faith enabled African
African American History & Culture, announced Americans to endure and rise above a
plans to create a Rosenwald School exhibit for cruel, unjust society that benefited from
the museum’s opening. Rising from the only their labor, both before and after
remaining space on the National Mall, the Emancipation. When these buildings and
museum will take its place next to the stories are gone, there will be no visible
The Oaks, home of Booker T. Washington Washington Monument between the National reminders of this important heritage. The
Tuskegee University Museum of American History and 15th Street. physical loss of historic African American
February 22, 2012 marked the official structures and oral history is tantamount
In June 2012, Boteler received a scholarship groundbreaking ceremony for the museum, to the loss of cultural heritage and
to attend the National Rosenwald School scheduled to open in 2015. history.
Conference, sponsored by the National Trust
for Historic Preservation, June 14-16, 2012 Descendants of Booker T. Washington and
at Tuskegee University. Julius Rosenwald spoke at the event.
Ethnohistoric Research on the Rosenwald Schools of Bath County:
Millboro School (T.C. Walker School) and Switchback School (Union Hurst School)
A work in progress, this project encompasses This project celebrates The National
comprehensive research of the Switchback Rosenwald Schools Conference theme of
and the Millboro schools, two Rosenwald pride, progress and preservation, honoring
Schools built during the segregation era in this legacy in Bath County, Virginia and all
Bath County, Virginia, serving students for the people in the African American Millboro School Switchback School
forty years. The primary goal is to provide a community who helped support the tourism (T.C. Walker School) (Union Hurst School)
thorough documentation from a variety of industry at the Homestead Resort and other
sources to ensure that the African American hotels, inns, private homes, farms, businesses Dr. Lynn Rainville, an anthropologist and
community’s school history is not lost. In and enterprises in the local community. historian based in Charlottesville, Virginia,
addition, it is important that this information is was a speaker at the National Rosenwald
shared within the African American community School Conference at Tuskegee and is the
Bath County Historical Society Presents: humanities scholar for this project. Dr.
and made accessible to the schools, other
members of the community and visitors as Documenting African American History from School Board Minutes, Rainville will post information from Ms.
well as the broader Rosenwald School Newspapers and Recollections of Alumni—Cynthia Boteler Boteler’s research on her website, The
community in Virginia. A Survey of Rosenwald Schools in Virginia—Dr. Lynn Rainville Rosenwald Schools of Virginia.
May 9. 2013 at 7:00 pm
This project is sponsored by the Virginia Foundation for the The Dairy at The Homestead Preserve, Photographs courtesy of Bath County Historical Society
Humanities, Bath County Historical Society and Virginia Hot Warm Springs, VA
Springs Preservation Trust Page 3

4. Cynthia Boteler
P.O. Box 242
Warm Springs, Virginia 24484
Phone: 540-839-9258
E-mail: cboteler1@tds.net
M U LT I P LY I N G M E M O R I E S : LESSONS IN LEADERSHIP
Documentary Film
Produced & Directed by
CYNTHIA BOTELER
Cynthia Boteler
Narration by
Cynthia Boteler, a Virginia native, Each semester, Ms. Boteler takes
Mrs. Gretel Anderson
Cynthia Boteler graduated from the University of students on field trips to various
Mrs. Doris Hayes Virginia with a Bachelor of Arts museums and historical sites around
Perlista Henry degree in French. She has twelve Virginia, West Virginia, and
Amanda Huffman
Dr. Paul Linkenhoker years of experience in higher educa- Washington, D.C.
Interviews by tion at the University of Colorado,
Ralph R. Burks Music Ms. Boteler received a Martin Luther
Amazing Grace
Health Sciences Center School of
Betty Jean Fields King, Jr. Legacy Award from Dr. Calvin
Jerry N. Johnson (John Newton, 1800) Nursing as a program assistant for
A. McClinton of the McClinton
James O. Lowry, M.D. Watson School Cheer two years, followed by Dabney S.
Lucy Wallace Lewis Watson School “Alma Mater” Foundation in Wrightsville, Virginia
Lancaster Community College as
Matthew H. Menefee, D.D.S. Original Score Composer in appreciation for her work and
Charles R. Nowlin Bronson Helm
Student Activities Coordinator and
performance in the preservation of
Ruby Sparrow Wells Special Thanks to: Adjunct Faculty for College Success
the African American experience in
Rev. Evelyn Harvey White Shirley Hughes Burks Skills for the past ten years.
Spurlock America.
Dabney S. Lancaster Community
Yolanda White College (DSLCC) As Student Activities Coordinator,
Charlene T. Wicks Virginia Community College Boteler is currently working on another
Ms. Boteler is responsible for
Interviewers System (VCCS) research and oral history project in
Montres Henderson coordinating the college’s Black
Community Assistance Bath County, Virginia, where she
Perlista Henry Mrs. Gretel Anderson History programs. Consequently
resides. The project was funded by
Edited by Former Mayor of Covington she developed an interest in Black
Montres Henderson Stephanie Clark the Virginia Foundation for the
History. Her interests led her to
Cynthia Boteler Eddie Graham Humanities (VFH).
Color Film Produced by conceive, develop and implement
Mrs. Doris Hayes
Montres Henderson Inna Henderson projects involving research on local
Jasmine Coles Perlista Henry history, several oral history projects,
Bronson Helm Dr. Paul Linkenhoker a documentary film, an educational To schedule a presentation
Black & White Film Production by Nancy Mathias
Cynthia Boteler workshop and community presenta- of the documentary film,
Kathy Nicely The Watsonians:
Sound Recording by tions.
Dr. Calvin André McClinton
Jasmine Coles
Doug & Mattie Smith
These Are Our Stories,
Bronson Helm Oral history recordings and tran- for your organization,
Tondalaya Van Lear
Production Assistants scripts of her projects are available contact Cynthia Boteler
Darlene Burcham & Andy Morris,
DSLCC Students at local libraries and historical
Town of Clifton Forge
Andrew Coburn
Perlista Henry
Watson Alumni Committee for societies.
Amanda Huffman 2010
Shawna Jefferson Geraldine Allen Comments from Watson School Alumni:
Peter Minetree Mary Hughes Barber
Jason Slaughter Shirley Hughes Burks  “I'm just happy to have lived to view this film. I would have loved for more people in the
Mindy Taliaferro Teresa Cashwell
area to have been able to view this film. I believe the young people would see why we feel
Linda Cook
Archival Photographs education is so important. It was worth the struggle and still is."
Alleghany Highland Ralph Fitzpatrick
Genealogical Society Thelma Halsey
Ethridge Burr
Regina Laws  "The film was very inspiring and should have been done long before now. Thanks to you
Ernie Miller Bernedia Minor who took the time to do such a great job."
Bath County Historical Society Carolyn Ross
Collection of Perlista Henry Leatha Smith  “I am deeply appreciative of the opportunity to have the history of Watson School pre-
Collection of Cora Poteat Elmira Twitty
served and documented. As the Watsonians age, there is also the distinct possibility that
Still Photography by Linda Venable
Yvonne Williams
the stories would have otherwise died also."
Cynthia Boteler
Jasmine Coles
Bronson Helm © 2010 Cynthia Boteler
 “A learning experience—community needs to see it.”
Montres Henderson All rights reserved.
Perlista Henry  “This was very educational. I learned a lot that was not known.”
©2013 Cynthia Boteler. All Rights Reserved.