Ferrum, VA, February 6, 2026 — Dr. Sara Evers, assistant professor of teacher education at Ferrum College, will give a talk at the Gainsboro Branch Library in Roanoke on February 12 at 6 p.m., on “The Politics of History: Advancing Civil Rights through the Booker T. Washington Birthplace Memorial and Industrial Trade School.” The event is free and open to the public.
Before joining the Teacher Education faculty at Ferrum College in 2025, Evers completed her Ph.D. in Curriculum Instruction and M.A. in History, both at Virginia Tech, with graduate certificates in both Public History and Education and Cognition. Her M.Ed. and B.S. from George Mason University include an undergraduate minor in Social Justice. Her upcoming talk builds on her graduate research on Booker T. Washington and ways of “knowing history.”
“I am excited to share my research with the local community,” said Evers. “My talk explores how the public historians who established the Booker T. Washington Birthplace Memorial strategically displayed Washington’s history to advance political and material goals for their community during a watershed moment in the Civil Rights Movement. Their efforts demonstrate the powerful ways in which history and memory interact with present-day concerns, and how public displays of history make arguments about national identity and belonging.”
The Booker T. Washington National Monument in Franklin County was dedicated in 1956, at the farm in Hardy where Washington was born into slavery a century earlier. In Roanoke, the Gainsboro library was recognized in 2023 with a Virginia historical marker noting that it “was the first public library for African Americans in western Virginia and the second in the state…. Librarian Virginia Young Lee, who served from 1928 to 1971, developed a regionally significant collection of Black literature, history books, and ephemera.” The Gainsboro community has been the site of much historical research and community development in recent years.
Evers noted that the location of her talk underscores its themes. “The library is itself a significant historic site and has served as a local center for Black history, philosophy, literature, and art since its founding in 1921. Caylin Wigger, a librarian at the Gainsboro branch, shared remarkable historical photographs to include in the presentation. These images illuminate the ambitions of the Birthplace Memorial’s founders and vividly evoke the time and place in which their work unfolded.”
Ferrum College President Mirta Martin said, “By examining the Booker T. Washington Birthplace Memorial and Industrial Trade School, Dr. Sara Evers helps us see how history has been intentionally used as a tool for change. Her scholarship underscores why preserving and interpreting these stories remains vital today and speaks directly to Ferrum College’s enduring mission as a college of opportunity. Her work powerfully connects history, education, and community—values that have defined Ferrum College for more than a century.”
As a public historian, Evers has also worked as a museum evaluator for the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, a digital public historian in Roanoke, an interpreter at the Booker T. Washington National Monument, and a volunteer at Manassas National Battlefield Park. She has contributed to several digital and on-site exhibits that address social justice and civil rights issues in different locations, from Philadelphia to Farmville, Virginia, and Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.
Evers’ continuing research focuses on educational methods and ways of communicating history in schools and public life. In November, 2025, she gave a talk at a history conference in Braunschweig, Germany on issues of gender in innovative digital history formats. In December, at a meeting of the International Assembly of the National Council for the Social Studies in Washington, D.C., she was co-presenter in three sessions. One of her papers was titled “Concepts, and Skills, and Consciousness—Oh My! A Sociohistorical Discourse Analysis of Foundation Conceptions of Historical Knowledge.”
Evers is also the author of several book chapters and co-author of a number of journal articles on teaching methods and public representations of history, including the depiction of historical events in films. She has presented her work at many national and regional conferences and public programs. She is currently president of the Virginia Council for History Education. Her responsibilities at Ferrum College include courses in teacher education and history as well as overseeing activities that ensure continuous compliance with accreditation requirements and Virginia Department of Education standards.
Evers’ work has been recognized with a National Council for the Social Studies Exemplary Research in Social Studies Award, 2025-2026, and an Early Career Scholar Award in 2025 from the Social Science Education Consortium.
Dr. Eric Vanden Eykel, dean of faculty at Ferrum College, said, “Dr. Evers exemplifies the type of scholar and educator we value at Ferrum College, someone whose research is both rigorous and publicly engaged. Her work demonstrates how and why historical scholarship matters beyond the classroom, and how it shapes conversations about social memory, justice, and civic life. We are proud to support faculty who bring their expertise into the community in ways that are accessible, thoughtful, and consequential!”
Evers’ program on February 12 begins at 6 p.m. at 5 Patton Ave NW, Roanoke, VA 24016. For more information, call the Gainsboro Branch Library at (540) 853-2540.
Click here for more information about Teacher Education programs at Ferrum College.
