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Historian and Author Shirley Robertson Lee Speaks at Longwood

   Written by on October 2, 2014 at 12:08 pm

IMG_0751Esteemed historian and educator Shirley Robertson Lee was the guest speaker at a special presentation on Tuesday, September 23rd. Mrs. Lee, a resident of Lunenburg County, graduated from Central High School in 1970, only one year after the county’s schools became desegregated in 1969. She went on to further her education, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in 1977, and eventually, a Master’s degree in School Administration and Supervision from Longwood University in 1985. Mrs. Lee’s career has been centered on education. She has held positions as classroom teacher, special education director, and “other administrative roles” as well. In 2008, Shirley Lee retired as elementary school assistant principal for the Prince Edward County Board of Education. That very same year Mrs. Lee went to work part-time for the Longwood University College of Education and Human Services. It was during this time that she began to compile and collect the information for her most current work.

Tuesday night’s presentation, entitled “Stories behind the Story,” comes in advance of the upcoming release of a book written by Mrs. Lee. The subject of the work is one very close to her heart, as a student of the Lunenburg school system. Her research took her back to a time when equal education for all was not guaranteed. The information for her book, entitled “Trails and Trailblazers: History of Public Education and Desegregation in Lunenburg County, 1870 to 1970,” was taken from countless encounters and interviews with “…former educators, students, and citizens that lived, worked, and went to school in Lunenburg County during the embattled times of desegregation.”

In front of a full meeting hall, Mrs. Lee told a few of the highlights of her research. The audience was fully engrossed as she told of the conversations with those people that lived the stories of which she wrote. Many of the faces held an expression of remembrance: the faraway look of reliving a past event. The enthusiasm she has for her work was clearly evidenced in the tenor of her presentation.

Mrs. Lee’s book is due to be published in 2015. This compilation is an accomplishment from which we will all benefit. It is the stories within that will remind us all where we have come from, and keep us squarely focused on where we are going in the future. This idea is most eloquently summed up by Mrs. Lee during the presentation of a collection of memorabilia to the Lunenburg County Historical Society. “It is important that the generations to come, our citizens, and others know about the history of our public education system to guard against the permanent loss of this important information.  The power of this collection lies in the fact that many will have an opportunity to learn more about our public education history.  The preservation of this collection will speak of the many unsung heroes who left their comfort zone to blaze uncharted trails in the pursuit of educational equality and thus, opened the doors of opportunity that so enriched the lives of others.”

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