In the interview with Campbell, the former substitute teacher with Charlottesville City Schools recalled leading an activity in which she split students into those with blue eyes and those with brown eyes, where students with blue eyes were not allowed to talk or read.

“Some of my kids, they had such sad faces, I could not continue with the activity, because I knew they were about to cry,” Campbell said in the interview. “The whole reason for doing what I did was because that’s what people do to people like me. They judge me because my skin is dark, not because of what I can do.”

Interviewing civil rights educators has reinforced his childhood admiration, Alridge said.

“The teachers I grew up with were very smart, dignified and graceful, and they were revolutionaries,” he said. “The teachers I’ve interviewed in Charlottesville, too, were dignified and graceful, and they were at the forefront of the movement. I’m very excited to share their stories.”

But he also wanted to expand on that research and create an ongoing investigation on the interactions of race and education.