Robert Russa Moton Museum

09/22/2026

🎬 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗙 𝘉𝘌𝘐𝘕𝘎 𝘌𝘋𝘋𝘐𝘌

Being Eddie was named Outstanding Documentary (Film) at the 57th NAACP Image Awards.

On October 1, you can hear directly from the man who directed it.

Farmville native and two-time Oscar winner Angus Wall joins us at Moton Museum to talk about bringing Eddie Murphy’s nearly five-decade career to the screen—from working with decades of material to making the choices that shaped the finished film.

If you love Eddie Murphy, film, documentaries, editing or simply a great story well told, this conversation is for you.

Thursday, October 1 | 6:00 p.m.
Moton Museum | 900 Griffin Blvd., Farmville

Free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

🎬 𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗜𝗟𝗘𝗥
See Being Eddie before we talk about The Making of Being Eddie with director Angus Wall on October 1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98xUkIDUPVg⁠

Presented in partnership with One for Prince Edward County.

There’s only one Eddie Murphy. At 17, he was already performing sta...

09/22/2026

𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗠𝗢𝗧𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗨.𝗦. 𝗖𝗔𝗣𝗜𝗧𝗢𝗟

This story from 12 On Your Side introduces viewers to sculptor Steven Weitzman, the artist behind the bronze statue of Barbara Rose Johns now representing Virginia in the U.S. Capitol.

But the story behind the statue begins right here in Farmville.

On April 23, 1951, 16-year-old Barbara Rose Johns stood on the stage of the Robert Russa Moton High School auditorium and called her fellow students to action. They walked out to protest the overcrowded and unequal conditions at their segregated school.

The students reached out to the NAACP. Attorneys Oliver Hill and Spottswood Robinson took up their cause, and the resulting lawsuit, Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, became the only student-initiated case consolidated into Brown v. Board of Education. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

But in Prince Edward County, the struggle continued.

Rather than desegregate, county officials closed the public schools in 1959. They remained closed for five years, leaving many Black children without access to formal education.

Then, in 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Griffin v. County School Board of Prince Edward County that the public schools must reopen. That September, children returned to Prince Edward County public schools.

One student strike had become part of a 13-year struggle that helped change public education in America.

Today, Barbara stands in bronze in the U.S. Capitol.

And here in Farmville, you can stand where she stood.

The former Robert Russa Moton High School is now the Robert Russa Moton Museum, a National Historic Landmark. Come stand in the auditorium where Barbara and her fellow students began their historic strike and learn more about the students whose courage helped change American education.

📍 900 Griffin Blvd., Farmville, VA
🕛 Monday–Saturday | 12–4 PM
Free and open to the public
🔗www.motonmuseum.org

Sculptor Steven Weitzman created a statue of civil rights icon Barbara Rose Johns.

09/21/2026

📚 𝗠𝗢𝗧𝗢𝗡 𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗛
𝗔 𝗩𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗨𝗔𝗟 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗘𝗗𝗨𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗦

What does the Moton story look like in your classroom?

Join the Moton Education Team for Moton Refresh, a one-hour virtual experience for 4th–12th grade educators focused on history and civics content from 1865–1965.

Participants will engage with Moton primary resources in an inquiry-based format, experience programming as if they were students, and explore additional Moton content and programming offerings for the classroom.

The session will conclude with a Q&A and an opportunity to share specific classroom needs with the Moton Education Team.

📅 Monday, October 12, 2026
⏰ 10:00 a.m.
💻 Virtual | One Hour

🚨 Register for Moton Refresh:
https://forms.gle/NcuiVSTgqeYY7Nrd6

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗧𝗢𝗡 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗔𝗖𝗥𝗢𝗦𝗦 𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗗𝗘 𝗟𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗟𝗦

Moton School Story is Moton’s primary educational program and has been adapted to provide grade-specific K–12 experiences.

K–2 | FAIRNESS & THE MOTON STORY
Students learn about Barbara Johns and the student protesters using a fairness framework. Content is scaffolded to be understandable for young learners, and teachers are asked to share typical classroom language to dovetail with the Moton educators.

This provides a basic foundational understanding of Moton. A suggested pre- or post-activity is reading students the Moton Museum’s STRIKE! Book:
https://issuu.com/greenwoodlibrary/docs/strike_a_moton_story_-_moton_museum

3–5 | VIRGINIA STUDIES
This version of Moton School Story connects with Virginia Studies. The program has been adapted to the 2023 standards to include Samuel Tucker and a more extensive study of the Reconstruction Amendments.

6–8 | CIVICS, BROWN & MASSIVE RESISTANCE
This version is civic-minded, with increased focus on the legal aspects of Brown v. Board and Massive Resistance.

9–12 | CRITICAL THINKING, INQUIRY & LEGAL CHANGE
This version of Moton School Story combines critical thinking with inquiry-based pedagogy, asking students to track legal change over time and examine how the law impacted life within the Commonwealth.

Student engagement with the Moton Magazines is an ideal post-activity because of the range of first-person perspectives presented in each volume.

Explore the Moton Magazines:
https://motonmuseum.org/learn/magazine-project/

09/19/2026

A few days after Griffin Day, but definitely worth the wait. 💜

Today, we’re grateful to revisit the voice and reflections of the late Rev. J. Samuel Williams as he shares memories of Rev. L. Francis Griffin’s legacy and philosophy.

Rev. Williams is deeply missed, and we are thankful that moments like this allow his voice, his memories and his connection to this history to remain with us.

Watch here and on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/UY8ZYt_rn7w

Join us for our 2023 observance of the Rev. L. Francis Griffin Day....

09/17/2026

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬

63 years ago today, September 17, 1963, Prince Edward County Free School Superintendent Neil V. Sullivan sent his very first bulletin to his staff.

Nine simple updates. One extraordinary moment in history.

The Free Schools had opened just one day earlier—and here is the work of building a school system, unfolding in real time.

Take a look. What catches your eye? 👀

09/16/2026

📚 On September 16, 1963, the doors of the Prince Edward Free Schools opened. After four long years without public education, more than 1,500 children walked back into classrooms filled with books, teachers, and hope.

❓ How did this happen❓

When Prince Edward County officials closed the schools in 1959 rather than desegregate, it took local leaders, national advocates, and federal action to respond. President John F. Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy threw their support behind a plan to create Free Schools, calling the situation in Prince Edward “a disgrace to the nation.”

👩🏾‍🏫 From this movement came the Free School Association, with Dr. Neil Sullivan — an educator from New England — stepping forward as Superintendent. In just a matter of months, more than $1.5 million was raised from private foundations, faith groups, and federal sources. Queens College in New York sent 27 volunteers — students and faculty — to teach, counsel, and run programs, joining educators who traveled from across the country to help.

More than classrooms awaited the students. Medical and dental care, nutrition programs, and counseling services were provided, recognizing that education is about the whole child. By the end of the first year, students had made remarkable gains — some advancing the equivalent of two years in just ten months.❤️

🌟 Today, the Free Schools stand as a reminder that when justice is denied, communities and allies can come together to create new paths of possibility.

📍 We invite you to visit the Robert Russa Moton Museum and experience this story in Galleries V and VI — “Prince Edward County Says No” and “Rebirth.”

💻 Can’t make it in person? Explore the story anytime at MotonSchoolStory.org.

09/15/2026

— On the morning of September 15, 1963, a bomb planted by Ku Klux Klan members exploded at Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church. Four young girls were killed and more than a dozen others injured.

What many don’t know is that later that same day, two more young lives were lost in separate acts of racial violence in Birmingham:

🕊 Johnny Robinson, 16 — shot and killed by a police officer.
🕊 Virgil Ware, 13 — shot and killed by a white teenager while riding his bicycle with his brother.

Six children gone in a single day.

Today, we remember Johnny and Virgil, honor their lives, and learn from this painful history — so that hatred and violence are never repeated.

(Source: Birmingham Civil Rights Institute)

09/15/2026

𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗩. 𝗟. 𝗙𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗜𝗦 𝗚𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗡, 𝗦𝗥. 🌿

As Griffin Day observances continue, the Robert Russa Moton Museum is proud to support the NAACP of Prince Edward County VA in honoring the life and legacy of Rev. L. Francis Griffin, Sr.

On Monday, September 21, the community is invited to gather at Moton at 4:45 p.m. and walk together to Odd Fellows Cemetery, where a wreath will be laid at Rev. Griffin’s gravesite. The ceremony begins at 5:00 p.m.

Rev. L. Francis Griffin Sr's leadership was deeply connected to Moton, to Prince Edward County, and to the long struggle for educational justice. We are honored to join our community in remembering the “Fighting Preacher.”

All are welcome.

09/15/2026

🌿 𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐍 𝐃𝐀𝐘 — 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐑𝐄𝐕. 𝐋. 𝐅𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐒 𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐍, 𝐒𝐑.

Today, on what would have been his 109th birthday, we celebrate the life and legacy of the Reverend L. Francis Griffin, Sr. — Farmville’s “Fighting Preacher.”

Pastor. Advocate. Strategist. Father.

Rev. Griffin stood with Moton students and their families after the 1951 student strike and remained a steadfast leader through Prince Edward County’s five-year public school closure. His name would become part of Griffin v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, the 1964 U.S. Supreme Court decision that forced the county to reopen its public schools.

But today, we also remember the man behind that history.

In 2021, members of the Griffin family joined Cainan Townsend for a special Moton conversation marking Rev. Griffin’s 104th birthday. L. Francis “Skip” Griffin Jr., Naja Griffin-Johnson, Cocheyse “Cookie” Griffin-Epps, and Rev. Dr. Eric Griffin shared memories of their father filled with faith, humor, family and an intimate perspective history books simply cannot provide.

On Griffin Day, we invite you to hear his story through the people who knew him first as Dad.

▶️ Watch the conversation:

https://www.youtube.com/live/Ee9gjH5tNzc?is=Mqcin6gkYL2Vg8Wz

Learn more about Rev. Griffin:
https://bit.ly/REV_GriffinSr

Happy Griffin Day! 🌿