Conversations on COURAGE
at Levine Museum of the New South, Charlotte, North Carolina

Exhibit on Brown vs. Board of Education prompts community dialogue around race, courage, and contemporary issues of equity and inclusion.

Nominated by Katherine Loflin and Susan Patterson of the John S. & James L. Knight Foundation

Between January and August 2004, Levine Museum of the New South in Charlotte, North Carolina, presented COURAGE: The Carolina Story That Changed America to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision. The exhibit told the story of the brave citizens of Clarendon County, South Carolina—people outside the traditional power structure, without wealth, and often with little classroom education—and how they worked together to begin the process that ended legal segregation of the races in America’s schools. In conjunction with the exhibit, the Museum offered facilitated discussions for teams of local business, government, and civic leaders. The original plan projected 500 participants for these discussions, but interest was so great that by the close of the exhibit approximately 1700 individuals had participated in these Conversations. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation funded “Conversations on Courage” and nominated the project as an example of a successful engagement investment. For more about the project and why the Foundation considered this a successful investment, click here.