Free Spirit Institute and Gallery documents local history

A new group is seeking to improve the area’s sparse documentation of minority history and bring the Orange County community together in the process.

The Free Spirit Freedom Institute and Gallery held its first meeting last month and is planning to hold its first exhibition at the start of next year.

The organization aims to bring local minority history into the mainstream.

Renee Price, who helped start the organization this summer with co-founder Thomas Watson, said the need for the group stems from a lack of diversity in historical preservation in the area.

Both Price and Watson are on the board of directors for the Historical Foundation of Hillsborough and Orange County.

“I would like to highlight the history of minorities and women, struggles and achievements,” Price said.

Michael Carmichael, the group’s marketing specialist, said the first photography exhibition will focus on local black history and will launch at the Hillsborough Arts Council on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January.

Eventually, Price said, the group hopes to move beyond pictures to both current and past oral histories.

Carmichael said the exhibit is the first large-scale attempt to inform the public on minority history that has also been backed by the county.

“The project is precisely what the county needs,” he said.

Carmichael said the group also plans to highlight other minority histories in the future.

Tinka Jordy, chairwoman of the arts council, said the council jumped at the chance to work with the group.

She said all cultures have narratives that often collide, and people can find connections with one another by tracing these stories.

“We thought it was a great idea,” Jordy said. “It was an opportunity to document history.”

Price said the organization has been reaching out to community groups, churches and educators to get people on board with the program. She said interest has been growing daily, and the project is moving forward quickly.

Delores Simpson, former Orange County Board of Education chairwoman, said she thinks the project will help to enrich the community.

Simpson moved to Hillsborough in 1953 as a teacher from Virginia and witnessed the integration of schools in the area. She later became the first black chairwoman of the school board.

“It’s interesting to see how the area has evolved,” Simpson said. “If we don’t record, it may be lost.”

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.