To conclude the celebration of our 30th anniversary year, the Museum invited Fannie Phelps Adams, a colleague of Septima Clark, to speak at the October 2008 So Their Voices Will Never be Forgotten session. While students and faculty had been reading the words of Septima Clark during the past year, we could now hear the voice of a 92 year old African American talk of life as an educator in a segregated setting where, while teaching only blocks away, she would not have been allowed to enter the Museum’s space and outdoor pavilion.

Unknown to Mrs. Phelps Adams, the event concluded with the unveiling of a commemorative bench on the Museum’s pavilion area with the inscription, “in honor of Fannie Phelps Adams and the courageous teachers of Booker T. Washington High School who fought for civil rights so that all individuals could sit on this bench.”

During the 2008-2009 academic year, the Museum will begin each So Their Voices Will Never be Forgotten event with an audio recording by Phelps Adams . . . so that her voice will never be forgotten, and every program will conclude with a reading at the Phelps Adams bench.

Fannie Phelps Adams describing life as a teacher with Septima Clark at Columbia's Booker T. Washington High School

The So Their Voices Will Never be Forgotten event was videotaped by the Museum's documentarian, Jason Craig, and portions of Fannie Phelps Adams' presentation are available via Youtube. Go to:

Video excerpts
General introductions

Alan Wieder, interviewer, listening to Mrs. Phelps Adams