Living Here: Alumni of Booker T. Washington School Exhibit

Living Here: Alumni of Booker T. Washington School Curatorial Statement by Noriah Shaw & Skye McFarland

This exhibit aims to shine light on the stories and experiences of the people who attended Booker T. Washington School from 1940-1965. Being a Black school during this era, very little of the school’s history was preserved until the building’s renovation in 2011. Much of this school’s history lives solely in the minds of its alumni, many of whom are now in their 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Our goal with this exhibit is to give these alumni a platform to share their experiences and have them archived for future generations. Going into this project, we had one main goal: to get as many interviews with alumni as possible. This meant being flexible with when and where interviews took place, alongside being persistent in our search for people who attended Booker T. Washington School. Although many interviews took place here at the McKinney Center, some took place in the homes of alumni, as well as over Zoom. Searching for people who attended Booker T. Washington proved a challenge. We found one of the best ways to find alumni was to ask for names and contact information from each person we interviewed. We had a short list of general interview questions prepared, but we found that as each interview progressed, interviewees had many of their own memories to share about the school. There were a few discrepancies, especially among different classes or years, but many memories of the school were very similar.

Many alumni shared common themes in their interviews, including that segregation was fundamentally harmful and a byproduct of a corrupt system. Access to school supplies was minimal, and supplies were often acquired secondhand from white schools. Desks and chairs were often shared by multiple students at a time. Much of the building’s maintenance had to be done by students. Despite this unequal treatment, many alumni report that they found community at Booker T. Washington, and commend the teachers and staff for their effort to provide students with a quality education. Each interview was recorded with a Canon Rebel DSLR camera, as well as with a secondary audio recording device. An edited video of each interview has been made public and can be viewed on the McKinney Center’s YouTube channel. Portraits for this project were difficult to plan due to physical and locational limitations, as well as some interviews taking place virtually. Because of this, rather than approaching with a strict plan for each photography session, we asked, “how can we make this quick and easy for this individual?” leading to much more of a snapshot style of portrait. The McKinney Center is the renovated building that was once a grade-school for African American children in Jonesborough and served much of Washington County. The building was constructed in 1940 and remained in use until integration in 1964. Along with working on this exhibition project, we are also involved in the McKinney Center’s Storytelling Initiative. A motto that we hear repeated time and time again is: “stories connect folks to each other.”

What at first sounded like an inconsequential slogan, we’ve since taken to heart. There is something very special about listening to the experience of someone outside of yourself. Listening to stories shifts your perspective, helps you learn, and most importantly, builds empathy. Understanding this, we are honored to help elevate the stories of these alumni to the public. We want to remember and honor the history of this building. Those voices and stories deserve to be told and heard. As we enter and exit this building each day, it’s important to remember what was here before us, and to share that story with our community. To quote one of Booker T.’s alumni, “This building was built to separate, and now it is working to bring people together.” We work to live by that, remembering our past as we move forward. Our hope for this exhibit is it will act as a microphone for the alumni of Booker T. Washington School, amplifying their stories and encouraging care and understanding for their experiences.