Crunch Time!
Since our last update, lots has happened! A Discussion Panel was executed flawlessly, lesson plans were finalized, and promotional materials were sent out. Most importantly, the Magnolia House is the proud home of seven freshly printed panels in preparation for the Virtual Exhibit Opening this Saturday, October 24. Without a doubt, this week is crunch time for the cohort, so let’s hear how they are doing leading up to the big day.
Events Committee
Since the last blog post, the Events Committee has successfully executed an event! Our Green Book Discussion Panel happened on Tuesday, October 13, and was a great success. If you would like to go back and watch the panel, you can find it here:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1039882089806950.
The only thing left for us to do is put the finishing touches on the Virtual Grand Opening elements and execute the event. We’re very much looking forward to hearing the speakers at the Grand Opening. Hopefully, we will have some great conversation with our audience about the importance of preserving historically Black spaces.
We’re so glad that the Green Book Panel went well. The conversation around the ways the Magnolia House (and other Green Book sites) served the community, as well as travelers, has really stuck with us. We look forward to seeing you all for the Grand Opening on Saturday, October 24, at 1pm!
Installation and Fabrication Committee
Since the last post, the Installation and Fabrication Committee has finalized the panels! The panels have now been printed by Spartan Printing and installed at the Magnolia House in time for the exhibit opening on Saturday, October 24. Right now, the panels are installed, and we do not have anything additional to do before the exhibit opening.
We are looking forward to seeing our panels in the Magnolia House during the Virtual Exhibit Opening and seeing how the community receives them. Also, we are looking forward to any feedback concerning the panel design and installation. It will be rewarding to see the project both completed and in its proper place after a year of work.
As a committee, we enjoyed participating in the discussion panel the Event Committee planned. The panel discussed the Green Book and highlighted the importance of telling the stories of places like the Magnolia House. The rate at which these places are disappearing is particularly startling and speaks to the urgency needed to preserve and interpret as many as possible.
Education Committee
Since our last post, the Education Committee has completed all scheduled lesson plans for the Historic Magnolia House! The collaborative Shoe Box Lunch lesson plan with the Magnolia House Historic Site Manager and Curator, Ms. Melissa Knapp, has been finalized. Our last lesson plan focuses on Civil Rights in Greensboro, looking at African American activism among colleges, like Bennett College, and the Historic Magnolia House itself. This plan incorporated multiple primary sources, like pictures and articles for the students to observe and analyze. Our work now involves reaching out to local Greensboro schools and presenting our lesson plans. These will be used for field trips at the Magnolia House.
As the Exhibit Opening approaches, we look forward to seeing how the exhibit’s implementation in the Magnolia House takes shape. It will be great to see the culmination of the cohort’s work. We got a hint of this with the online Green Book Discussion Panel where we heard panelists speak on the nature of African American travel during segregation and provide insight into this time in history.
Blog, Budgeting, and Marketing Committee
Since the last post, the Blog, Budgeting, and Marketing Committee has been hard at work, spreading the word about both the Green Book Discussion Panel and the Virtual Exhibit Opening. While Emily has focused on the blog and monitoring the budget, Matthew has been diligently creating promotional materials to spread the word about the exhibit’s events. Here is an example of one of the flyers Matthew created:
While we have been spreading the word of the Discussion Panel and Exhibit Opening to various news sources, the promotional materials and blog posts have been shared by the cohort, family, and friends to spread the word of the events. We have seen that traditional marketing strategies as well as word of mouth have proven essential in advertising the Discussion Panel and the Exhibit Opening.
The Discussion Panel was a wonderful experience for all that attended! The panelists were very informative and answered every question thoroughly. One of the most important takeaways from the panel is that historic places, such as the Historic Magnolia House, play an essential part in the Green Book history. These places should be preserved for future generations as it is important to learn and interpret local Black history.
As the Virtual Exhibit Opening draws closer, the nerves and excitement grow! As a cohort, we have spent a year researching, writing, designing, and preparing for this exhibit. We could not be more excited to see it come to life this Saturday. Follow the link below to RSVP for the Virtual Opening:
