The article highlighting how the collaborative initiative is documenting and elevating stories from Alamance County communities was published in Liberal Education, the magazine of the American Association of Colleges and Universities.
An ongoing effort by Elon faculty and students in collaboration with community partners to document and highlight deep-rooted stories of residents of Alamance County has been featured in Liberal Education, the magazine of the American Association of Colleges and Universities.
Since its start in 2018, Elon’s Power + Place Collaborative has focused on collecting oral histories of local residents, with the initiative expanding to include ongoing gatherings of community members to better understand and retell their collective history. The article, “Stories to Live and Build Bridges By,” was penned by two leaders of the collaboration: Associate Professor of Geography Sandy Marshall and Danielle Lake, director of design thinking and associate professor of human service studies.
From the article:
This shared evening of Power+Place is more than just a one-off project in community engagement—it’s a living embodiment of community building.
What began as a project to collect oral histories of residents of this historic county has blossomed into a deepening bond between Elon University and its surrounding community. Power+Place is a dynamic partnership between the university and the African American Cultural Arts and History Center (AACAHC), the city of Burlington’s Parks and Recreation division, and Alamance County Public Libraries. Since 2018, Elon students and faculty have worked closely with leaders from these organizations to conduct oral history interviews with community members—whom we call community storytellers—including local faith leaders, civil rights activists, artists, entrepreneurs, educators, first responders, and city employees.
Together, participants have produced a vibrant quilt of community stories, weaving together threads of connection that transcend racial, religious, generational, and geographic boundaries.
In the article, Marshall and Lake document the impact that the initiative has had on those on campus and in the community. “Sometimes we are so focused on our own hardships that we don’t realize what is happening in other communities,” said one attendee at the 2023 Power+ Place screening. “Learning from other stories has been so impactful. I didn’t know we had so much in common.”
Read the entire article to learn more about the initiative and the impact it is having on Alamance County.