ABSTRACT

Students understandably created a hierarchy of authority in order to make decisions about what to present in the exhibit. A comprehensive and focused study of the history of incarceration in Winston-Salem has yet to be written, although it seems to follow the many regional and national trends as described in The New Jim Crow. Public History is both a professional field of practice and a methodology. It is, at its most basic, the presentation of history for public audiences. Public historians have emphasized the value of oral history for enabling “shared authority,” an approach that empowers underrepresented minorities and allows practitioners to craft more diverse historical narratives and attract broader audiences. A crucial site of empathy for the course was the classroom at Forsyth Correctional Center. As a site of community dialog, the exhibit opening effectively empowered the former offenders to turn a mirror on the rest of the community, more loving and accepting community in Winston-Salem.