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Reaching Across the Racial Divide – A Presentation by Betty Kilby Baldwin and Phoebe Kilby
Saturday, October 11 @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Watch Video of the Event
Locations: Middletown Campus, Carl and Emily Thompson Conference Center and Virtual
About the Presentation
“The sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.” – Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
As daughters, Betty Kilby Baldwin and Phoebe Kilby have found a way to live Dr. King’s dream.
They will share their powerful story of discovering their family connection and embarking on a journey of reconciliation and reparation. Their talk draws on lessons from their 2021 book, Cousins: Connected Through Slavery – A Black Woman and a White Woman Discover Their Past and Each Other (UMW 2023 Reading Program selection, Social Justice).
Books will be available for purchase at the event.
About the Speakers
Dr. Betty Kilby Fisher Baldwin
- Integrated Warren County High School in 1959 after her father sued the school board under Brown v. Board of Education.
- Author of Wit, Will & Walls.
- MBA and Honorary Doctorate from Shenandoah University.
- She and Phoebe have presented nationwide at universities, schools, churches, and conferences.
Phoebe Kilby
- Baltimore native; degrees in Botany (B.S.) and Environmental Management (M.E.M.) from Duke University.
- Worked as an urban and environmental planner.
- Later earned a degree in Conflict Transformation from Eastern Mennonite University.
- Active in the Coming to the Table movement, where she researched her family’s connection to slavery—leading to her discovery of cousin Betty.
Betty’s story and the desegregation of Warren County High School in 1959 are featured in the documentary Knocking Down Walls (2023), created by Spotswood High School students and Rockingham County Public Schools staff. The film tells the story of Virginia school integration through the voices of those who lived it.
Sponsored by:
- Laurel Ridge Community College
- Shenandoah River District United Women in Faith and individual Units:
- Leesburg UMC, Brucetown UMC, Stephens City UMC
- Belle Grove Plantation
- Northern Shenandoah Valley Coming to the Table
- Shenandoah River District UMC
- Virginia Annual Conference United Women in Faith
- Strasburg United Methodist Church
- Strasburg UMC Methodist Men
- VA Annual Conference UMC Methodist Men
- Virginia Annual Conference UMC Cross Racial/Cross Cultural Resource Team
- Warren-Page NAACP
- Shenandoah County NAACP
- Robin Lyttle
- Anonymous
- VA UMC Director of Belonging and Advocacy-Rev. Lan Davis Wilson
- Strasburg Museum at the Strasburg Visitor’s Center
The Kilby Family Endowed Scholarship Fund
INVESTING IN THE BLACK COMMUNITIES OF TOMORROW COMMUNITIES OF TOMORROW – https://poisefoundation.org/the-kilby-family-endowed-scholarship-fund/
