Greensboro abounds in historic sites that were important way stations on the road to freedom for all Americans. When Earle Bower, a retired advertising executive from Manhattan, looked at rebranding Greensboro as a marketing problem, he pulled together the following under a single label, rebranding Greensboro as A Journey to Freedom.
Guilford Courthouse National Military Park: British General Cornwallis won the day from General Nathaneal Greene but lost a quarter of his army, leading directly to his defeat at Yorktown seven months later. Without Guilford Courthouse, the Revolution would have gone on longer with a potentially different outcome.
Underground Railroad Museum (to be created): The North Carolina Underground Railroad had a primary “station” in the woods near Guilford College. A permanent Underground Railroad Museum could tell the poignant story of runaways and their Quaker helpers.
Bennett College Museum (to be created): Started in 1873 in a church basement as an elementary and secondary school for African American children, Bennett was taken over in 1874 by the Freedman’s Aid Society. Around 1878, a group of former slaves purchased the land where Bennett stands today. In 1926, Bennett became a college for women.
N.C. A&T Museum (to be created): In 1890, after Congress mandated “a separate college for the colored race,” the Agricultural and Mechanical College for the Colored Race was established by the General Assembly. Today N.C. A&T, home to the National Science Foundation Engineerng Research Center, graduates more African American engineers than any other institution. (The Greensboro Four were A&T students.)
University of North Carolina at Greensboro: Founded in 1892 when the only state institutions for women were insane asylums and prisons, it became coeducational in 1964 and a leading research campus of the Univrsity of North Carolina.
Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum: In 1902, Charlotte Hawkins Brown founded the Alice Freeman Palmer Memorial Institute as an agricultural and manual training facility for African Americans which evolved into a fully accredited preparatory school. More than 1,000 students graduated during Brown’s 50-year tenure. An independent entity, it is the first museum in North Carolina to honor a woman.
International Civil Rights Center & Museum: This museum, established on the site of an F.W. Woolworth store where one of the nation’s earliest sit-ins occurred, is one of the key elements in bringing the fight for freedom into the 21st century. It honors the four A&T students who, in 1960, initiated one of the earliest non-violent sit-ins.
Greensboro Historical Museum: Located in a former Presbyterian Church building that served as a hospital during the Civil War, Greensboro’s leading history museum would play a major role in the rebranding concept. Its location, adjacent to the upcoming performing arts center and LeBauer Park, make it particularly attractive to visitors.
These would give us many attractions tracing the road to freedom, from the American Revolution to the present, and identifying the city with the ongoing fight for freedom and equality for all. But how should we rebrand ourselves?
My favorite is “Greensboro — A Journey to Freedom.” Life is a journey for individuals and cities alike. And we aren’t there yet; not even close. The journey continues until every American has freedom and equal opportunity. Finally, the word is a subtle reminder to visit us.
I recently met with Carol Ghiorsi Hart, director of the historical museum, to discuss this concept. She felt that the idea of freedom was an appropriate and relevant positioning consistent with the area.
History must be built upon a framework of truth. Let’s tell it as it happened and let the chips fall. Anything less is dishonest and would cheat those who went before.