“Say Their Names: Honor Their Legacies” Becomes Basis for Social Studies Curriculum
By Barbara A. Seals Nevergold, PhD
Beginning this school year, Buffalo School students will learn about Black History directly from resources created by the Uncrowned Queens Institute. Their social studies classes will include a curriculum based on video interviews and biographies of local African American history makers.
In 2022, the Uncrowned Queens Institute launched the community oral history project called “Say Their Names: Honor Their Legacies.” Focused on collecting the stories of our community’s elders, project coordinator Dr. Barbara Nevergold gathered a dozen 70, 80, and 90-year-old community builders for portraits and video interviews to preserve their first-person narratives. One of the participants turned 100 in February 2023.
The participants shared their experiences in the Jim Crow South, the de-facto segregated North, the Great Migration, and in the armed forces, for example. Their stories are powerful, first-hand examples of African American/American history. In addition to being instructive, they are also inspiring. A second round of the project, in 2024, collected the oral histories of another dozen elders.
Working with Dr. Daphne McNab, Dr. Nevergold developed some sample lessons, which were shared with Ms. Anne Botticelli, the school district's Chief Academic Officer, and Mr. W. Charles Brandy, the Director of Social Studies. Ms. Botticelli highlighted the significance of these materials:
“The rich primary sources embedded in the Say Their Names project will enhance existing curriculum in multiple ways, including introducing students to local leaders reflective of our diverse community…….. We are thankful for this opportunity and look forward to any potential outgrowth of this work, whether it involves guest speakers, additional narratives, or additional activities.”
Dr. Nevergold added that “students will be able to learn that African American history is not only in the textbooks. History, in fact, lives among us, and we want our children to learn from the elders firsthand about that history. Also, learning from these personal accounts will help to dispel stereotypes that some students might have.”
Readers are invited to view the oral history interviews. “Say Their Names: Honor Their Legacies” has a digital archive of photographs and interviews with these community elders on the Uncrowned Queens YouTube Channel, https://www.youtube.com/@uncrownedqueensinstitute716.
Full biographies of the participants are also available on the Uncrowned Community Builders webpage.
This project resulted from partnerships with Yves-Richard Blanc, a photographer and videographer known for his extraordinary talent; the Buffalo History Museum, which hosted the exhibits; and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Special thanks to the Baird Foundation, April Baskin, Chairwoman, Erie County Legislature, Catherine Schweitzer, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, and Greater Buffalo Racial Equity Roundtable for funding that supported the implementation of this project.