The document discusses a collaboration between the Freeman Round House Museum, Barton College History Department, and Hackney Library, focusing on social justice through community engagement and research. It highlights the significance of service learning, community-based research, and participatory action research in understanding and addressing local historical and social issues in East Wilson. The collaborative project aims to preserve African American history and promote community involvement and empowerment through academic and research initiatives.

1. Crossing the Tracks:
The Academic Library as Social
Justice Advocate
A partnership of the Freeman Round House
Museum of African American History, the Barton
College History Department, and Hackney Library

2. “The mission of librarians is to
improve society through
facilitating knowledge creation
in their communities.”
R. David Lankes, The Atlas of New Librarianship.
Cambridge: MIT Press, 2011.

3. Freeman Round House Museum of
African American History
Mission: To highlight,
preserve, promote and
present African
American contributions
to the development of
East Wilson, Wilson,
Wilson County and the
surrounding area over
the past 150 years.

4. “Preservation of Wilson...
...provides leadership in the revitalization
of Wilson County’s unique architectural
heritage. As stewards of Wilson County’s
historic buildings, we actively promote
historic, architectural, and culturally
significant properties….”
from PoW Mission Statement (http://www.preservationofwilson.com/)

5. James Baldwin
“The great force of history comes from the
fact that we carry it within us, are
unconsciously controlled by it in many
ways, and history is literally present in all
that we do.”

6. “Preservation of Wilson...
...provides leadership in the revitalization
of Wilson County’s unique architectural
heritage. As stewards of Wilson County’s
historic buildings, we actively promote
historic, architectural, and culturally
significant properties….”
from PoW Mission Statement (http://www.preservationofwilson.com/)

7. Service Learning, Community Based
Research, Participatory Action Research
Service Learning requires a collaboration between the college and one or more communities.
Projects meet community-defined needs. It may be integrated into the academic curriculum (course-based,
credit bearing) or may be implemented as a co-curricular activity.
Community Based Research (CBR) is a methodology that can be used in service learning. CBR is
designed to identify and solve community-defined problems through a partnership between community
members and college researchers. Unlike traditional research, which is completed at the conclusion of
the project, CBR makes a lasting contribution to the community.
Participatory Action Research (PAR) is a form of CBR that seeks to empower and emancipate
community groups which are struggling to improve their social, political, and economic situations.

8. Barton College First Year Seminar
“Exploring and confronting the roots and
legacy of white supremacy.”
Community Forums at St. John AME Zion
Church organized by Mr. Louis Thomas
Ms. Deloris Thomas

9. Crossing the Tracks: Round House Museum,
Hackney Library, BC History Department
• work 5 hours per week at the Oliver Nestus Freeman Round House Museum
of African American History in Wilson
• spend 2-3 hours per week on background reading, research, writing one-page
reports, and discussing this intellectual work with the library director
(this work will be done in the library, as part of the student’s regular duties).
The topics will be oral history techniques, AV archiving techniques, and some
general research on the socioeconomic history of East Wilson. These reports
will be posted on the project’s libguide (library-linked website)

10. Matthew Flint: Barton College
History Student

11. What we asked...the schools
● Which neighborhood(s) did you grow up in?
● How has the neighborhood changed over the years?
● How have the changes affected the community?
● Where did you go to school?
● What was the school like?
● Did you get a good education there?
● Did you get support from the teachers and
administrators?
● Were the parents involved with the school?
● Who was your favorite teacher? Why?
● Who was the principal? What do you remember about
him?

12. ...the businesses...
● Were there a lot of stores and other businesses in the
community back then?
● Are any of them still in business today?
● When did the businesses begin to leave or close?
● Why do you think this happened?
● How did the community change when the businesses
began to leave?
● What is the business district like now, and how is it
different from when you were young?

13. ...the churches
Did you grow up in a church, or did any of your family?
Which one?
How the church involved in community activities?
Did people in the churches work with the schools? How?

14. What we heard
Rev. Maurice Barnes on community fabric.
Mr. Derrick Creech on Darden High School.
Mrs. Mattie B. Jones on schools and
teachers.

15. Bernice Johnson Reagon (Sweet
Honey in the Rock)
“If in moving through your life, you find
yourself lost, go back to the last place
where you knew who you were, and what
you were doing, and start from there.”

16. “It takes a whole community and there needs to be a cooperative spirit,” [Bill] Myers said. “I don’t think
you’ve done anything when you leave one section of the community out of history and not tell their
contributions. We do better when we work together.” The Wilson Times, 2/18/14, 1A.

17. “Knowing this history gives me a better perspective of this city. Driving through Wilson you can still see the
stark differences that remain between different areas of the city. In some places we can see how integration
has succeeded, while in others, especially East Wilson, it doesn’t seem like integration ever happened.”
Matthew Flint The Wilson Times, 7/19/14, 2A

18. Crossing the Tracks: The Academic Library as
Social Justice Advocate
http://barton.libguides.com/crossingthetracks
George W. Loveland
Associate Professor of Library Science
Director of Hackney Library
gwloveland@barton.edu
252-399-6501