Moton joins civil rights trail
Published 1:35 pm Thursday, January 25, 2018
The Robert Russa Moton Museum was one of two Virginia landmarks issued into the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, a news release from the Virginia Tourism Corporation recently announced.
Cameron Patterson
The trail includes more than 100 sites across 14 states, the release and the U.S. Civil Rights Trail website cited.
“In partnership with Travel South USA, the U.S. Civil Rights Trail is a collection of more than 100 churches, courthouses, schools, museums and other landmarks primarily in the southern states where activists challenged segregation in the 1950s and 1960s to advance social justice,” the release cited.
The Virginia Civil Right Memorial, according to the Virginia Tourism Corporation site, was erected in 2008 to “honor the actions of 16-year-old Barbara Rose Johns, of Robert Russa Moton High School, along with her fellow students, their parents and community leaders and civil rights attorneys.”
Moton Museum Managing Director Cameron Patterson communicated his excitement for the museum to be included in the trail.
“It is an honor to be included within the newly-launched U.S. Civil Rights Trail,” Patterson said in a statement. “This important recognition acknowledges the statewide and national importance that Prince Edward County citizens played in expanding equality for all Americans. We look forward to working with Travel South, Virginia Tourism Corporation and other sites that are a part of the U.S. Civil Rights Trail to tell important stories of individuals who advanced social justice within our country.”
The Moton Museum cited on its social media page that the museum will continue to work with the Civil Rights in Education Heritage Trail, based in Virginia, which has 41 sites.
Patterson said the museum’s role in the trail could bring visitors into the area and presents the opportunity for visitors to learn of the area’s history.
“I believe that this recognition will help to attract many new visitors to the museum and our area,” Patterson said. “It is wonderful to be a part of an effort that helps to capture in one place all of the historic landmarks and cultural institutions that were at the heart of the civil rights movement.”
