Stories of Burlington’s Black community amplified in Elon College project

Segregation. Integration. True love. A winning team. Finding family. Being elected to local office, called to serve through faith, or provide a center of community activity.

These themes wove through and bound together a series of stories shared by residents of east Burlington and members of the predominantly Black community surrounding North Park’s Mayco Bigelow Center. Their stories were collected and recorded this fall by the Power & Place Collaborative, including students in the Human Service Studies senior seminar and Place and Place-Making sophomore Honors Fellows seminar in partnership with the Mayco Bigelow Center and Alamance County’s African-American Cultural Arts and History Center. Edited videos of the stories were unveiled on Tuesday, Nov. 24, and are available to view here.

In total, students compiled 10 stories of residents who broke barriers, quietly blazed trails, or offered insight and unique experiences of growing up or living in Alamance County.

“Change is sometimes fearful and change can be painful, but we should embrace progress,” Catherine Smith says in one of the videos. She and her late husband Sidney Smith Jr. organized Alamance County’s first official Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance in 1982 – against the advice of some locals who warned it would cause trouble – which continue annually. When they first moved to Alamance County in 1981, the nearest MLK observance was in Greensboro. Sidney Smith promised her they wouldn’t have to leave town to gather and remember Dr. King again.

“I don’t know if I’ve changed the world, but I’ve changed the little tiny corner I’ve been in, hopefully for the better,” Smith said.

The Power & Place Collaborative grew from a desire to strengthen connections between Elon and surrounding communities, and the need to preserve the stories of Black residents who lived through segregation, integration, and witnessed events that continue to affect communities and local politics. The collaborative plans to continue work this spring and through future courses to document Burlington’s stories and grow relationships through students’ experiential learning in communities.

“The goal of the course is to have students think differently about place,” Assistant Professor of Geography Sandy Marshall said. “We wanted them to know about this place, and … think critically about why it looks the way it does, how it functions, and how that intersects with issues of race and inequality.”

Marshall previously taught courses on power, place and memory and involved students with the late Jane Sellars, founder and organizer of the African-American Cultural Arts and History Center. Sellars was collecting stories about East Burlington, the history of Black-owned businesses, and planning for a physical museum space before her death several years ago. Her daughter Shineece Sellars is continuing her mother’s vision.

Marshall and Director of Design Thinking and Associate Professor Danielle Lake began preparing for the Place and Place-Making honors seminar last spring, wanting students to build relationships and experiences in the local community by hearing residents’ stories firsthand. They continued connections with Shineece Sellars and Bobbi Ruffin, director of the Mayco Bigelow Center. Because human service studies majors have experience in interviewing local residents through coursework and practicums, they connected with Assistant Professor of Human Service Studies Vanessa Drew-Branch so seniors could mentor sophomores in the skills of interviewing and community building while deepening that work.

Ruffin said the collaborative helps preserve North Park’s legacy and influence. In segregated times, it was the only park Black residents could attend. It was and remains a center for recreation, education, resources and events. She is eager to continue collaborating with Elon students to build bridges between the university and East Burlington.

“I think the stories have been told before but within our community, within east Burlington,” Ruffin said. “We know we’re connected, but having this project … brings it back to that representation matters. These stories are a part of Alamance County’s experience. Even if they’re shared in this smaller way, they give a bigger picture of what Alamance County is.”

A number of Honors Fellows in the course will be completing internships with the African-American Cultural Arts and History Center this J-term and spring, and others have chosen to focus on the seminar’s topics for future research. Lake, Marshall and Drew-Branch plan to continue the collaboration in future courses and seminars, and research the outcomes of these local-but-global student experiences compared to study abroad experiences.

“This project fulfills all the experiences we want students to have: Working in interdisciplinary teams, getting them out of the ‘Elon bubble’, and helping them become great community citizens after they leave Elon by understanding and valuing the people who have created a place,” Drew-Branch said. “Everyone is bringing their own skills and ideas together, and that’s how communities are built. The outcome is this collection of beautiful, narrative stories about Burlington.”

Gabie Smith, dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences, said the project is an example of the kind of community partnership and student experiences the College wants to advance.

“The stories shared by the community members were so powerful, and the trust and relationships built with students and the faculty’s work in creating a place for these stories to be told is inspiring,” Smith said. “As a Burlington resident, it is valuable for me to hear the lived experiences of my neighbors.”

Marshall called the process emotional and cathartic, with relationships formed during a pandemic and national political turmoil.

“At the event, Rev. Donna VanHook said she was honored to share her story but, in truth, the community storytellers honored us with their stories,” Marshall said.

The collaborative continues to locate more community sources and stories to expand the project’s scope. Participants said that work is vital as Alamance County, Elon, and the nation move forward.

“This is a great beginning. There’s so much history that needs to be told so our next generations can grow up to respect what has been before,” Burlington business owner Faiger Blackwell said Monday. “In 1974 when I graduated, I never thought we would still be tackling some of the same problems today. We have to be reminded … of sacrifices made. We need to keep telling these stories.”