On Feb. 19, United States Department of State historian Myra Burton visited and spoke with students in Wootton’s Humanities and Arts program.

Burton spoke extensively about the impact of the election of President Barack Obama, the nation’s first black President.

Burton, born in 1957, was raised in Northwest D.C. in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement. She recalled that as a teenager, she bought a clothing item at a store that refused her mother’s service, and her mother demanded that she return it. She said that certain stores prohibited African Americans from shopping.

Burton studied history at the University of San Diego, and on her multiple trips across the country, she was denied service because of her skin color. Her car was vandalized several times as well.

These experiences inspired Burton to earn a Masters degree in history and educate people on the roles of African Americans in the country’s history and development.

“This speaker’s visit is a chance for students to see how far we’ve come in the last 60 years,” Humanities’ Program Director Mrs. Michelle Hanson said. “[Burton] will give students a new perspective on how well race relations within our country have improved.”

The visit occured a week after the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.

“We now have a man ... living in the White House that is African American. Considering the place this country came from, that’s a promising sign of where this country is headed. Hopefully, one day we will live in a completely colorblind society,” Hanson said.

“I like how she covered every part of African American history, not just the modern aspects,” senior Debi Segal said. Burton discussed topics such as the first presence of African Americans in the colony of Virginia in 1916, Booker T. Washington, the Freedom Summer of 1964, and Tom Bradley’s 20-year run as the mayor of Los Angeles.

The final few minutes of the hour-and-a-half long presentation described Obama’s election to presidency and an opportunity for Humanities students to ask Burton questions.

“Very few people that lived trough what we lived through could believe that enough Americans would be able to look past colors to vote an African American man as president,” Burton said.

Obviously Barack Obama’s election to presidency was one of barrier-breaking importance, and because of Burton’s informative presentation, Wootton’s Humanities and Arts students are fully aware of the timeline of African American history that led up to this historic event.

“It put Obama’s election into perspective,” senior Kara Vetrano said.