In person classes are back in full swing at Blue Ridge and this month teachers in our history department, and across the school, are highlighting Black history. Black history, of course, is American history, and American history is Black history. While it’s not a topic that can be consigned to one month each year, February is always an important reminder and opportunity for history teachers, and all educators, to reflect on the voices that are included in their curriculum.
Mr. Russell Leary, chair of the history department, is working to ensure that the BRS curriculum reflects and values Black perspectives, “As a nation, we are becoming more and more conscious of how to celebrate and honor the achievements of people of color throughout our history, and we aim to grow in this area as well. We want our students to develop a profound respect for the contributions of people of all backgrounds.”
Gabe Dedu (BRS class of 2022) and Mr. Leary created a display to showcase what students are learning. This display was Gabe’s idea, and he approached Mr. Leary about creating it after making the observation that while schools often tend to focus on honoring major figures like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the lives and experiences of lesser known African Americans too often go unacknowledged. “My idea was to put important figures and events on this board that cover some of the known and lesser-known impacts that African Americans have had on history,” Gabe said.
This month, Mr. Leary’s students are participating in a design challenge in which they create exhibits explaining the life and significance of Toussaint L’Ouverture, the leader of the largest slave revolt in history. The winning exhibit will be added to the display in the main academic hallway. Students are being challenged to think critically about L’Ouverture’s legacy and then represent it in a visually compelling and engaging manner.
Students in dual enrollment PVCC US History have been examining issues of Stars and Stripes, a newspaper that was published for soldiers stationed in Europe during World War I. The class came across an article containing the stuff of a Hollywood blockbuster script as it detailed the heroism of two American soldiers who held off a raiding party of 24 Germans. Prior to the war, Henry Johnson and Needham Roberts had lived ordinary lives in New York, one a luggage porter and the other an elevator operator. For their heroism each received the highest honor that the French military could bestow. As African Americans, their own country did not let them serve in combat roles, to do so they were placed under the command of French officers.
In Mr. Hampton Kennedy’s classes, students have approached the brutal history of slavery in the United States by learning about the ways enslaved people were stripped of their African heritage, but also how they actively resisted enslavement and exerted agency over their own lives. To do this, Kennedy’s students are examining advertisements for runaway slaves and asking the question, how can historians use these sources to find evidence of enslaved people resisting their oppression, and reclaiming their culture?
I am also pleased to share that Blue Ridge is taking the long overdue step of honoring some of its own Black history by recognizing the contributions of one of the most impactful educators in its history, Mrs. Alice Ivory. From 1970-1990 Mrs. Ivory was the School’s art teacher. She was also the School’s first African American employee. Hundreds of Blue Ridge boys had the opportunity to develop their skills as artists under her guidance. Alice Ivory was an impressive artist in her own right, but perhaps her greatest gift was her ability to inspire confidence in the young men she taught. Hatcher Willams, a legendary BRS headmaster, wrote a letter to Mrs. Ivory in which he expressed his gratitude that her art program was empowering boys with self confidence that they would carry with them to all other pursuits in life. This month a plaque to honor Mrs. Ivory’s BRS career will go up in the academic building in a place of honor alongside the greatest educators in the history of Blue Ridge School.
Pete Bonds
Dean of Faculty and Academics
pbonds@blueridgeschool.com
