This month, the History Center donated 10 copies of the newest “Step by Step: How the Lincoln School Marchers Blazed a Trail to Justice” children’s book to the Literacy Foundation to help stock their countywide laundromat libraries and reading sites. Pictured holding the books are Shelby Boatman, Karen Long and Elizabeth Huber.
Submitted photos
The cover of the “Step by Step: How the Lincoln School Marchers Blazed a Trail to Justice” children’s book.
The Clinton County History Center and Clinton County Literacy Foundation are pleased to partner together for a special reading opportunity in recognition of Black History Month.
This month, the History Center donated 10 copies of the newest “Step by Step: How the Lincoln School Marchers Blazed a Trail to Justice” children’s book to the Literacy Foundation to help stock their countywide laundromat libraries and reading sites. The Literacy Foundation’s mission is focused on getting books into the hands and homes of children in Clinton County.
Through this partnership, $150 worth of books are being donated in the hopes that the historic story reaches the youth of Clinton County. Additional copies of the book are available for purchase to the public through the History Center’s gift shop, weekly Wednesday-Fridays 8:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. or 1 p.m.-4:30 p.m. If anyone in the community is passionate about sponsoring additional copies of the book for school libraries, please call 937-382-4684 and ask to speak with director Shelby Boatman.
“Step by Step: How the Lincoln School Marchers Blazed a Trail to Justice” is a new children’s book from Ohio Humanities and Daydreamers Press that tells the story of one of the longest sustained demonstrations of the civil rights movement from the eyes of a real-life child marcher. The historic demonstration took place in Clinton County’s backyard – Hillsboro, Ohio. Quakers from Clinton County, leaning into their beliefs of peace and social justice, also came alongside the Lincoln School Marchers for two years through assistance with education outside the classroom while their children were barred from attending school.
For those not familiar with the story, following the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954, Black mothers in Hillsboro, Ohio attempted to enroll their children at the all-white Webster Elementary School. However, the local school board refused the call for integration. Demanding equal education, a group of Black mothers and children marched to and from Webster daily until Black students were admitted. As the march continued for two years, the group—aided by NAACP lawyers Thurgood Marshall and Constance Baker Motley—filed a lawsuit that would become one of the first national test cases of the Brown decision. Step by Step tells this story from the perspective of 12-year-old Joyce Clemons, now 81, one of the women who marched for integration as a child.
“We are overjoyed to be partnering with the Literacy Foundation on this worthy cause for Clinton County’s youth, especially with highlighting the importance of Black History Month in a new and unique way. The Literacy Foundation is making a huge splash in our community and we are just happy to have the ability to support their mission through a donation like this,” Boatman shared.
The Clinton County Literacy Foundation will hold a Facebook Live event on Feb. 12th at 7 p.m. where Boatman will be reading the story for all of Clinton County to hear. To obtain a copy of a free book through the Clinton County Literacy Foundation, please email Karen Long at [email protected] or Elizabeth Huber at [email protected].
