The Wake Forest College Birthplace Society affirmed the organization’s commitment to racial equity and inclusion during a meeting of the board in July 2020.
WFCBS Statement on Racial Equity and Inclusion
The Wake Forest Historical Museum is committed to advancing racial equity and inclusion within our organization and community. Institutions and history museums like ours have a responsibility to engage our community in challenging conversations about racism, inequality, and the struggle for justice.
We are committed to preserving and sharing Wake Forest’s history in all of its complexities. Through our partnership with Wake Forest University’s Slavery, Race, and Memory Project, we are currently researching and developing new interpretive programming and exhibits that explore the diverse experiences of enslaved and free African Americans in the nineteenth-century. While this work is only the beginning, it will be a foundation on which to ground community conversations about the history of slavery and its legacies.
The Wake Forest Historical Museum is focused on increasing board and staff understanding of racial inequity within our organization. This work will help us identify and develop solutions in areas where operations, programming, and interpretation need improvement. We will also develop a plan for equity, diversity, and inclusion as part of our long-range planning process, a recommendation put forth by Wake Forest University’s President’s Commission on Race, Equity, and Community.
As we better understand and reckon with Wake Forest’s history, we hope to contribute to a more inclusive and equitable community through acts of justice, kindness, and courage.