More than a Classroom Lesson

When a group of six students and their chaperones traveled to Montgomery, Ala., in early December, their trip had two purposes. They were there to explore historic sites and further their understanding of the Civil Right Movement; they then needed to share their experiences with their Dana Hall peers and teachers. As part of the School’s January 21 recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the group gave a moving and interactive presentation that invited the entire school community to join in bridging the gap between historical monuments and modern-day responsibility.
 
Titling their presentation “Women Driving Change: The Architects of Resistance,” the students took a deep dive into the role that women played in advancing the legal rights of Black Americans in the Jim Crow South, noting that more than 70% of the activists, organizers and strategists were women and young people. The students used their presentation to highlight lesser-known figures like Jo Ann Robinson and Claudette Colvin. They also asked their peers to stand up in Waldo Auditorium to help visualize and understand the length and power of the 381 days of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which owes much of its success to the women who managed the vital day-to-day machinery of the protest.   

Their Alabama itinerary included stops at Alabama State University, the Rosa Parks Museum, Centennial Hill Historic District, the Legacy Museum, Freedom Monument Sculpture Park, and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. They also visited the parsonage where the young Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his family lived when he served as the minister to the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church from 1954 to 1960. “We often see Dr. King behind a podium, but our trip taught us to see him at the kitchen table,” said A. Mao ’28. “We saw a version of MLK that was collaborative — a leader who succeeded because he listened to the brilliant, radical women who were holding the line right beside him.”

During the presentation, each of the six students, who were selected for the trip through an application process, offered a personal reflection on their experiences in Alabama. “Before visiting the Legacy Museum, I thought I understood America’s history of slavery and racial injustice from what I had learned in school,” M. Nichlos ’28 shared. “I knew the major events and believed that knowing the facts meant I understood their impact. But walking through the museum made me realize that learning history in a classroom is very different from confronting it in person. Standing there, seeing the stories and the objects of real people’s lives, made the past feel alive and heavy in a way I wasn’t expecting.” T. Ximba ’28 noted that “because of this trip I see myself differently. I now know that although I’m young, I can still make my voice heard and make a difference.” 

The trip’s leader was Director of Community, Equity and Inclusion Rachel Nagler, who collaborated with her co-chaperone Social Studies teacher Heather Panahi and the students to create a presentation that invited the Dana Hall community to see social justice not as a chapter in the past, but as a continuous line of resistance. The group ended the experience with specific calls to actions for each grade and the faculty and staff, and then the entire school community:

"We didn’t just take a trip to Montgomery; we took a trip into our own responsibility. The civil rights movement isn't a chapter in a book—it’s a relay race. We have the baton now. What are we going to do with it?”