The Greensboro Transit Authority is teaching black history on the go, WFDD reports.
The North Carolina-based bus system brought back its popular Black History Heritage Ride for Black History month. The initiative features a fleet of buses covered with images of black history icons like Rosa Parks and the Tuskegee Airmen.
Along with nationally known heroes, the buses also feature local heroes like Edward Greenlee and Charlotte Hawkins Brown. Greenlee was Greensboro Transit Authority's first black driver, serving from 1938 until his retirement in 1992, the News & Record reports.
Brown founded the Palmer Institute in 1902, a prep school for black students in Sedalia, North Carolina. It served over 2000 students with Brown at the helm, until her retirement in 1952. The school closed in 1971, and the site has been turned into the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Memorial Museum.
Brown was also the first black woman appointed to the board of the YWCA.
The Black History Heritage Ride program began last year, and returned this year due to “overwhelming” praise from the community served by the buses, according to Greensboro Transit Authority's communications manager Kevin Elwood.
“The powerful displays of diversity in black history made us popular with many group leaders, including teachers who considered it a part of their Black History Month curriculum,” said Elwood. “As we continued to get requests even after the month had ended, we knew we had hit upon something valuable that should be repeated."
Elwood also noted that the transit authority wanted to go beyond the usual Black History month lessons that only include people like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“Those are all great,” he said. “But people hear about those a lot, and I wanted to bring to the forefront some important moments in black history that have had a positive effect on not only African Americans, but on Americans overall.”
The buses operate on regular routes like all other GTA buses, and are also available for use by schools and community groups if they request a visit.
Admirers looking to ride one of the buses can follow their routes through GTA’s website (bus 777-HR) and their Twitter page.
