The Dorchester Improvement Association, the governing board of Historical Dorchester Academy, shared gifts with Liberty County schools that tell the story of civil rights.

The organization donated to each elementary school in Liberty County five copies of “Child of the Civil Rights Movement,” a book by Paula Young Shelton and illustrated by Raul Colon.

The book depicts thoughts, perspectives, and experiences of the author, her two sisters, their father, the Rev. Andrew Young, and other major leaders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Many of these leaders frequented Dorchester Cooperative Center (Dorchester Academy) in Midway during the 1960s because it served as one of the SCLC’s major educational centers.

DIA board of directors Vice President Dr. Clemontine Washington presented the books to librarians and principals of some of the county’s schools.