In a captivating tribute to resilience and trump over inequality, the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center premiered the “Carver High School: Alumni Oral History” series last month on its official YouTube channel.
The series marks the beginning of an organizational initiative to document and preserve alumni oral histories that would otherwise be lost to future generations. Through recorded video interviews, four alumni of the once segregated George Washington Carver High School, articulate their experiences, challenges, and the incredible victories they achieved during their time as students, as well as their personal lives and careers. Their oral histories shed light on their remarkable journeys against the backdrop of adversity and offer invaluable insight into a pivotal period of Phoenix’s history during the segregation era.
The series captures the unfiltered narratives of Ruth Ann Payne Franklin, Vera Alice Randolph, Dr. Frederick Warren and Barbara Crane (pictured above from left), who not only navigated but excelled in an environment steeped in inequality. Three of the interviewed alumni are women and through this oral history series, we record in posterity the unique experiences of Black women growing up in Phoenix and the additional barriers they faced to succeed academically and professionally.
This series was made possible through collaborative efforts and funding support of Public Allies Arizona and Arizona State University’s Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation. Watch the series via the YouTube channel @carvermuseumphx. Learn more at carveraz.org.
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