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UNC Greensboro Builds A Visual History Of Unsung Heroes

WUNC | By Frank Stasio,
Amanda Magnus
Published October 16, 2020 at 12:46 PM EDT

Many people know the role that Rosa Parks or Martin Luther King Jr. played in the fight for civil rights. But what about Willena Cannon, a student at North Carolina A&T University who was arrested after protesting to integrate Greensboro’s businesses? Or Reverend Steve Allen, who founded one of the first African American law firms in Greensboro in 1979? 

Host Frank Stasio talks about "The Unsung Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement Visual History Project” with three guests from UNC-Greensboro: media studies professor Matthew Barr, history professor Torren Gatson and recent graduate Atigre' Farmer.

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro is bringing together the media studies and history departments with the university libraries to catalogue the visual histories of the activists who aren’t included in the way we retell the fight for civil rights. Host Frank Stasio is joined by three folks from UNC-Greensboro to learn more about“The Unsung Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement Visual History Project”: Matthew Barr is the co-director of the project, a professor in the department of media studies and an oral historian and documentary filmmaker; Torren Gatson is an assistant professor in the department of history who talks about student involvement, and Atigre’ Farmer is a recent graduate who interviewed some of the unsung heroes. 

Atigre' Farmer and October Kamara in a demo workshop
Contributed by Hassan Pitts /
Atigre' Farmer and October Kamara in a demo workshop
Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama
Clement Bardot / Creative Commons
/
Creative Commons
Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama
Bennett Belles participated in the Greensboro Sit-In Movement
Bellealert / Creative Commons
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Creative Commons
Bennett Belles participated in the Greensboro Sit-In Movement
March for justice after Greensboro Massacre
The Romero Institue / Creative Commons
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Creative Commons
March for justice after Greensboro Massacre

Copyright 2020 North Carolina Public Radio
Frank Stasio
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
See stories by Frank Stasio
Amanda Magnus
Amanda Magnus grew up in Maryland and went to high school in Baltimore. She became interested in radio after an elective course in the NYU journalism department. She got her start at Sirius XM Satellite Radio, but she knew public radio was for her when she interned at WNYC. She later moved to Madison, where she worked at Wisconsin Public Radio for six years. In her time there, she helped create an afternoon drive news magazine show, called Central Time. She also produced several series, including one on Native American life in Wisconsin. She spends her free time running, hiking, and roller skating. She also loves scary movies.
See stories by Amanda Magnus