The library at Western is hosting a display in honor of Black History Month. This display was put up at the beginning February which marked the start of Black History Month, and the start of spreading knowledge about Albemarle County’s past. These five large poster boards stand on isles for students to read and educate themselves about the County’s past around the time of the civil war.

Librarian Ginger Lejeune sees the display daily and enjoys having it in the library. “It is a really interesting display, it shows real people who lived here and what happened to them during different battles and such. So it’s a really interesting part of our African American History,” Lejeune said.

The Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society asked to see if the school was interested in the display, and then provided the display for the school. “We have a display that is provided by an organization whose goal is to perpetuate the memory of experiences that happened to African Americans who lived here in Albemarle County before the Civil War and also during the war,” said Lejeune.

World History teacher, Reimer Broderson saw the display and was happy that it was up for the school to see.”What I like about it is that it got all the big political events down to a personal level. It really showed what impact these policies had on people on an individual level, and what their lives actually looked like. Which is something you would never understand if you just hear about it in the abstract about these big movements,” Broderson said.

The time available for students to see the display was interrupted by some snow, but was still there for the students to read when they came back. This is the first year that the display was available for students to see. Lejeune said that they are planning to uphold this relationship with Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, and have the display return in February of next year.