As I trust you are aware, February is celebrated as Black History Month. It is a time when there is greater focus on African American culture and history. With that being the case, we have recently had several opportunities to share more about our work as it pertains to black history.

Over the past couple of weeks we have been approached by local television and newspaper reporters to do interviews about our Hamilton Rosenwald School project and our developing Roanoke River Underground Railroad Trail—both of these initiatives deal with important aspects of our regional history.

We trust that over the month of February you will have the chance to learn more about our work as a result of these interviews.

Roanoke River Partners are grateful for the chance to share more about both of these stories during the month of February. However, we want you to know that we have been working on these initiatives for several years and this work goes on all year long—not just in February.

With that said, this seems like a good time to share our mission and how these projects fit into it.

Roanoke River Partners was founded in 1997 with a mission “to preserve, enhance and promote the natural, cultural and historic identity and integrity of the Roanoke River region through cultural and eco-heritage tourism and other environmentally sustainable activities that encourage economic development and social justice.”

From previous columns I have written, you may have some idea that our Roanoke River Paddle Trail and associated camping platforms were built to yield economic value for our river communities. You may not be as aware that from our inception, social justice was also an integral part of our mission.

Our efforts to renovate and re-purpose the Hamilton Rosenwald School as a river center, along with the more recent development of our Roanoke River Underground Railroad Trail, are two social justice strategies we have adopted to elevate our under-served region.

Both the Underground Railroad history that took place here on the Roanoke River and the educational experiences shaped by Rosenwald Schools in our region have greatly impacted our development. This is our history— a shared history which shaped our past and which informs our future.

Thanks to a grant from the GlaxoSmithKline Foundation, RRP, along with a host of community partners, has been conducting events to increase awareness about our developing Roanoke River Underground Railroad Trail. We have conducted a series of five events so far—with two more planned for February. The first of these events will be held at in cooperation with Hope Plantation in Windsor and is scheduled for February 1, 2020. A second event will be held at the Vernon James Center in Plymouth on February 15, 2020. Both of these events are open to the public.

We invite you to connect with us during the month of February— and all through the coming year— to learn more about this rich regional history and how embracing it can provide a renewed sense of local pride and a path to greater prosperity for our rural communities.

On second thought, let’s make that a trail to greater prosperity—a trail that connects both our natural and our cultural assets and attracts a growing number of visitors and revenues to experience both here along the Roanoke!

Carol Jones Shields is the Executive Director of Roanoke River Partners, Inc. You can contact her at (252) 798-3920 or director@roanokeriverpartners.org. You can learn more about Roanoke River Partners at www.roanokeriverpartners.org.