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Public Allies telling the stories of George Washington Carver High School
July 11, 2023 - Public Allies Arizona is a program with ASU’s Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation that is making a significant impact on the landscape and dynamics of leadership in the communities of Phoenix and Tucson.
The program amplifies the potential of individuals to assume leadership roles, emphasizing that meaningful and enduring transformations occur when people from diverse backgrounds rise to the occasion, embrace accountability, and collaborate.
As a culmination of this 10-month program, Allies are required to execute a Team Service project. After the Allies are put into teams of 4 to 5, they must come up with their top three organizations they want to work with to do a story-telling project. Chris Elliott, Nicholas Tanner, Tailer Shadron, and Antanisha Parker were grouped together in October of 2022 to plan and execute their Team Service Project.
After thorough research, they landed on interviewing the living Alumni of George Washington Carver High School. Now a museum, George Washington Carver High School was Arizona's first school built entirely for students of color.
The museum's inception dates back to 1926 when it was established as the Phoenix Union Colored High School. While state laws did not explicitly require segregated high schools, mounting tensions in the aftermath of World War I fueled the construction of this school, promoting racial segregation within the high school system.
In 1943, the edifice was dedicated to George Washington Carver, a prominent historical figure, in commemoration of his passing that same year. However, ten years later, as segregation in Phoenix High School was ruled unconstitutional, Carver High School ceased its operations in 1954.
Subsequently, the building served as an office and storage space until a group of alumni purchased it in 1996 and transformed it into a museum and cultural center.
“We wanted to work with them so that we can shed light on that because not a lot of people know about the history of the place. The museum even exists like no one knows,” said Elliot. “Our aim for this is to uplift and tell the stories of the alumni who originally went to George Washington Carver High School,”
According to Elliott, there exists substantial documentation concerning the experiences of male students at the school, while a noticeable absence of information regarding the experiences of female students is observed. Recognizing this disparity, the Allies sought to acquire a deeper understanding of the experiences and perspectives of women who attended the school.
“Our mission is to tell the stories of this generation, and to make it real and tangible, and to increase the capacity and to really share it, because not only are we going to be able to showcase these interviews in an in-person gathering at the Museum, We can also have these interviews posted on the Youtube Channel and increase some type of social media presence and share those stories there so that they can actually live,” Shadron said.
Instead of diving head-first into the project, the Allies decided to cover all their bases and do research work. They dug up into the archives to study the history of the museum even better. They also sat down with Dr. Whittaker and Barbara Hatch, experts in cultural arts with years of experience in storytelling.
All four of the Allies took two courses on Biography, Audio, Photography, and Graphics in order to execute their storytelling project in a systematic and efficient way.
They interviewed a total of four alumni, a majority of whom graduated somewhere around the 1940s. Originally, they just met with some of the business partners at the museum to give an overview of their project and their mission.
After going through a multitude of questions and landing on the ones they thought would help them tell the story, the Allies executed a couple of hours-long interviews with each alumni, discussing the school and how it impacted the community and their personal lives.
Alongside a skilled videographer, the Allies worked diligently to conduct and record these insightful interviews. In addition to compiling a collection of documented interviews, they also plan on producing a concise promotional trailer for the museum, showcasing highlights of the project.
According to the Allies, some of the challenges they faced during the preparation and execution of the project were, memorizing the dates and the people involved in the history of the museum as well as coordinating with the alumni.
“I just want to make sure that we do justice, and really tell a story properly, and honor them, make them feel really loved and appreciated and understood,” Tanner said.
Even after the project is completed, according to Parker, their aim is to keep informing people about the museum and the important place it holds in history.
“I'm really excited to see George Washington Carver, and what it can become, you know, beyond this project, and I hope that you know this project that we're doing helps amplify, and you know it gives it more attention,” Elliott said.
From Tanner, “I really want to make sure I maintain these relationships. These are such unique relationships, I don't think I'd have, in any other situation. I really have to thank Public Allies and my cohort for that."
Shadron told us “It's exciting to be a part of a project that isn't just a project. It really becomes a part of your life and a part of your story and you become part of the story of this place, too."
Story by Riva Surana, ASU Lodestar Center.
Photo: Christopher Elliot and Nicholas Tanner with videographer Joseph Haley during an alumni interview
Build your organization's leadership pipeline with Public Allies Arizona
Public Allies Arizona is changing the face and practice of leadership throughout Phoenix and Tucson communities by demonstrating our conviction that everyone can lead, and that lasting change results when citizens of all backgrounds step up, take responsibility and work together. Public Allies is a 10-month AmeriCorps program that places emerging leaders in full-time, paid nonprofit internships with partner organizations in the community.