A one-day exhibit at the Wilson Special Collections Library highlighted the shared heritage of students from two countries.
University students from Valladolid, Mexico, and high school students from Morganton, North Carolina, worked together to curate "Revitalizing Maya History and Heritage: Our View from the Archives."
“The whole point of the program is to have the students sort of explore their identity as Maya people and look into their heritage and their history,” said Gabrielle Vail, project coordinator and UNC anthropology professor.
Currently, Vail and the Morganton students are traveling with the exhibit around Mexico.
The program created connections between the Universidad de Oriente in Valladolid, Mexico, and Robert L. Patton High School in Morganton, North Carolina.
Morganton has a well-established population of Maya-descended immigrants from Mexico and other countries. As part of the program, Morganton students traveled twice to Wilson Library to study the archaeological findings of George Stuart, a UNC graduate whose work on Mayan heritage is included in the library’s Southern Historical Collection.
Biff Hollingsworth, collecting and outreach archivist with the Southern Historical Collection, said it was interesting to interact with such a unique group of students. He said groups of immigrants like the students and their families have become vital to North Carolinian society.
“If you were to spend any time with the students from Morganton, you’d really think that they were like any Southern high school kid,” Hollingsworth said. “They have a lot of the same thoughts, concerns, ideas, but they have a very unique background and upbringing.”
The program was funded in part by a grant from Museums Connect, an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The program works to strengthen cultural understanding by facilitating projects like these.
