University Park

Penn Staters visit key sites in the Civil Rights Movement

With arms linked, they strode tall across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, images of Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965, replaying in their minds and impelling their feet forward. Thirty-nine years before this small, diverse group of Penn State and University of Pennsylvania students made their symbolic crossing, 600 civil rights activists — intent on marching to Montgomery, Ala., to demand voting rights — headed east out of Selma, Ala., on U.S. Route 80. They went as far as the Edmund Pettus Bridge, only six blocks away, before state and local lawmen attacked them with billy clubs and tear gas and drove them back into Selma.

Weeks later, 25,000 marchers would complete this mission, converge on the Montgomery capitol, and help bring about President Lyndon Johnson's signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Now, in 2004, as the college students stood together at this site, they felt as though they had stepped back in time. They knew what had transpired here. They had just finished watching a movie documenting this bridge's importance. But to cross it themselves, they knew, would be life-changing.

During Penn State's spring break, March 6-12, a group from the University Park campus embarked upon a dramatic excursion, "Struggle for Freedom: A Journey South Through the Black Civil Rights Movement." The trip, which followed routes similar to those taken by Martin Luther King Jr. during his 1960s protest campaigns, was a hands-on, experimental introduction to the Civil Rights Movement and was offered to students enrolled in an honors history course. The class was structured in three parts: an eight-week course taught by Daniel Letwin, associate professor of history; the trip, which was led by Keith B. Wilson, associate professor of counselor education; and an optional service-learning segment taught by Nicole Webster, assistant professor of agricultural and extension education. Sponsored by Penn State's Schreyer Honors College (SHC) -- although open to any Penn State student -- the trip included 12 students, two staff members, one faculty member, and the faculty member's wife and 8-year-old daughter. Along the way, they met up with students from the University of Pennsylvania, who had undertaken a similar journey.

From Washington, D.C., to Greensboro, N.C., and from Birmingham, Ala., to Atlanta, the group investigated various aspects of this important time in U.S. history. Before and during the trip, students examined the interrelationships among political, philosophical, religious and sociopolitical forces that hindered and drove the Civil Rights Movement. However, beyond these scholarly pursuits, it was the emotional impact of being there that tied all lessons together.

While most students only get to learn about the Civil Rights Movement through a textbook, Wilson knew that putting these students in real-life situations at the very locations where the movement's events transpired would be an invaluable experience.

"Actually experiencing and witnessing locations and people's testimonies inspires the students to change their behaviors," Wilson said. "Everyone discusses multiculturalism and diversity in the classroom, but some learning is best achieved beyond the cognitive approach."

According to Wilson, research has shown that it is behavioral and experiential learning that often forces students to fully grasp all aspects of such weighty topics. Such was the case at every location the group visited and with every person they met. The group spent time with Lewis Brandon III, a longtime civil rights activist who organized the 1960 Woolworth desegregation sit-ins; two women who marched as young girls on Bloody Sunday in Selma; a cousin of Martin Luther King Jr.; and Johnnie Carr, a lively, 93-year-old friend of Rosa Parks who encouraged the students, especially the female students, to get involved and address injustice in their own communities.

"It was deeply touching to hear the stories of people of all ages and both races who risked life and limb to promote justice, and it was incredibly inspiring to see how people working together truly will 'overcome someday,'" said Lindsay Keiter, one of the student participants.

At nearly every stop along the way, the Penn State group visited historic sites central to the Civil Rights Movement -- from the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church and West Park in Birmingham, Ala., the sites of the first mass beatings of "freedom riders" in 1963, to the Rosa Parks Library and Museum in Montgomery, Ala., commemorating Parks' courageous and historic stand in 1955. Visiting these sites, and the tens of others the students explored, made the experience very personal for all involved.

According to Donna Meyer, coordinator of student and alumni programs for SHC and the trip organizer, it is difficult to capture the essence of the Civil Rights Movement without including this experiential dynamic.

"Touching a beaten victim's scar or standing in the footprints of a great leader like Martin Luther King Jr. brings the textbook to reality," Meyer said.

Perhaps one of the greatest lessons learned from the trip was the realization that continued activism is needed among a newer generation of Americans. According to Roberta Hardin, coordinator of student services for SHC and another trip participant, the long-term impact of the journey is that it has spurred the students to want to do their part.

"The students do not want to stand for injustice, and have also learned first-hand results of nonviolent protests," explained Hardin. "The students carry a desire to change and to get involved."

Meyer concurred, "When the students returned, they wanted to take action and be active members in their communities. Many students came to realize that they can be part of the solution, even if they were not part of the problem."

The students did return to Penn State determined to make a difference. "I came back fired up and ready to do something," said Keiter. "I'm currently making a documentary on the trip to show its value to students and administrators so these amazing trips can continue to happen."

Keiter and several other trip participants who opted to complete the service-learning segment of the class have decided to put together a social justice library at Penn State to promote awareness among other students. They also are looking into interning in Selma, Ala., at the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute. Still others are investigating the possibility of joining the "Starting Small" program, an initiative aimed at teaching tolerance at the elementary-school level.

"This course has given me faith in new, interactive education classes," said Michelle Singleton, another student participant. "I believe classes like this one, that take learning out into the real world, help students achieve a better understanding of their topics of study. When I take future courses, I will think about how what we learn affects life outside the walls of Penn State."

The faculty and staff who accompanied the students on the "Struggle for Freedom" trip feel strongly that the resources to continue such programming be found and made available.

"These experiences are what learning is all about and what set universities apart from one another," said Meyer.

Wilson also stresses opportunities like this should not be underestimated and should be extended to students as often as possible. "These students got out and had their lives changed in one week," he said.

According to Cheryl Achterberg, dean of SHC and a pioneer in bringing this course to fruition along with Associate Dean Judy Ozment Payne, the course was based on D. Bob Gowin's philosophy that the mark of an educated person is the flourishing integration of thinking, feeling and action.

"The class was designed to encourage this kind of learning because it is transformative, and it has staying power," added Achterburg. "We think it worked. We hope to see this course continued and expanded in the future, which will be possible if colleges departments and other units partner together."

"Struggle for Freedom" was recently nominated for the Jocelyn M. Bennett Diversity award, which recognizes outstanding initiatives to promote diversity awareness and cultural understanding at Penn State, and SHC is planning its next experiential learning trip, which will focus on the Vietnam War. For more information about SHC and to stay abreast of any course/trip developments, visit http://www.shc.psu.edu

Last Updated March 19, 2009

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