Stories of Alamance County

In 2018, Jane Sellars, the founding executive director of the African-American Cultural Arts & History Center in Burlington, recognized the need to preserve the stories of community members.

Sandy Marshall, associate professor of geography, created a course called Power, Place and Memory and enlisted the help of Elon University students to capture those stories digitally. After initial success, more partners got involved to form the Power + Place Collaborative. New storytellers are chosen each year to record their thoughts on particular themes of community building. Stories are shared at screenings every spring and through printed signs set up as story walks in local parks and libraries.

When we understand our histories from all of these different perspectives, we can re-imagine what we want our community to be together so that it becomes a place where we’re connecting.