Montgomery Academy was honored to welcome Dr. Valda Montgomery to campus where she shared with our Middle and Upper School students about growing up as a child during the civil rights movement. Her family home, located in the Centennial Hill neighborhood, played an integral role in hosting and supporting leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the late Representative John Lewis, and so many other activists during such a volatile time in our city.

In preparation of Dr. Montgomery's visit, and in honor of Black History Month, seniors Claire Gary and Cydney Pepple, members of the Cultural Awareness Club, shared the stories of the Ben Moore Hotel and the Malden Brothers Barbershop, two often overlooked places in our city that played a critical role in the civil rights movement, and also discussed by Dr. Montgomery. These student-produced videos were shared in the Middle and Upper Schools, and were followed by advisor-led discussions with students afterwards.

We thank Claire and Cydney for their thoughtfully researched documentation of these historic spaces, and we deeply thank Dr. Montgomery for her commitment to keeping these stories alive and giving us a first hand account of these pivotal moments in history.