Thiel College screens documentary about Lutheran educator and civil rights pioneer

Posted February 22, 2022 Print

GREENVILLE, Pa.-- Thiel College held a screening of a short biographical documentary on Dr. Rosa J. Young, a pioneer in education and civil rights, in the James Pedas Communication Center on Feb. 22.

“As an educator and a historian, I am keenly interested in the people and places and events that shape our lives,” President Susan Traverso, Ph.D. said. “I also have an inherent sense of duty to explore the forgotten, erased, and overlooked aspects of the past.”

Young was a 22-year-old from Wilcox County, Ala., who pioneered Lutheran, Gospel-centered education throughout Alabama’s “Black Belt” in the early 1900s. She was an advocate for education for Black children, and she dedicated her life to lifting Black people in rural Alabama.

The documentary screening was one of the many events that have been held throughout February on campus in recognition of Black History Month.

The Thiel community will gather from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26 in the Lutheran Heritage Room for the annual Soul Food Feast.