Seneca Museum Exhibit exploring education of African-Americans

The current exhibit at the Bertha Lee Strickland Cultural Museum in Seneca explores the first 100-years of formal education of African-Americans during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Oconee County. Entitled “Segregation, Integration, Assimilation” the exhibit is shown through the lens of local history-makers, says Museum Manager Shelby Henderson. “We’ve got our exhibit going on right now through May 25, of next year and it is “Segregation, Integration, Assimilation” and it deals with the formal education system in Oconee County in the African-American community from the late 1800s up to now.” Henderson tells what visitors will see in the exhibit. “There was actually a Junior College here in Seneca in the 1800s, from 1899 through 1939. We talk about the schools during the segregated period, so they will learn about the Junior College. They will learn about Oconee County Training School and that building is still standing, it was actually originally a Rosenwald School here in Oconee County. They’ll learn about all ten of the Rosenwald Schools that were in Oconee County. They’ll learn about Blue Ridge High School, which was the African-American High School in Oconee County from 1955 to 1969. They’ll see faces, they’ll see all the faces that went to the schools during that time. Every image that we have in the museum right now is directly related to Oconeeans.” The Bertha Lee Strickland Cultural Museum is located at 208 West South 2nd Street in Seneca. Museum hours are Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11am to 4pm.