Hendersonville commemorates the 60th anniversary of the integration of its schools with a new film documenting the black community’s thirst for education when Color Beyond the Lines, a new film by David Weintraub and the Center for Cultural Preservation, premieres on June 21st. According to Ronnie Pepper, President of Hendersonville’s Black History Research Group, “Going back to when our people were enslaved, we realized that if we were going to truly be free it was important to have a good education.”

Despite the fact that black students were forced to use old, tattered books and attend schools far from their home, the schools they created became treasured institutions. 9th Avenue School, for instance, offered a quality education while maintaining a close-knit family relationship. When integration of schools went into affect in 1965, the black community was excited to have access to resources that they never had before, but it came at a high price, the loss of their cherished schools.