Booker T. Spicely: Citizen, Soldier, Martyr, Hero
The Museum of Durham History is proud to announce our exhibit, Booker T. Spicely: Citizen, Soldier, Martyr, Hero, in partnership with the Booker T. Spicely Committee with corporate support from Your Part-Time Controller (YPTC). The exhibit will open be up from August to December 2025, displayed outside the Museum in our beautiful sidewalk-banner frames, where they can be easily viewed by visitors to Downtown Durham and the Brightleaf area.
This exhibition tells the powerful story of Private First-Class Booker T. Spicely, a Black soldier stationed at Camp Butner during World War II. In July 1944, while visiting Durham, Spicely was ordered by a white bus driver to move to the back of the bus. Though he complied, Spicely spoke out, noting that he was fighting for democracy overseas. Moments later, the bus driver shot and killed him—an act that became one of many tragic incidents during the Jim Crow era in which African Americans lost their lives while demanding equal rights at home.
The exhibit places Spicely’s story within the broader context of similar injustices faced by Black Americans during World War II. Originally funded by the City of Durham’s Cultural & Public Art Program, the full exhibition was also on display earlier this summer at the Hayti Heritage Center. The Museum of Durham History is honored to extend its reach by installing the story on striking outdoor banners along the Museum’s sidewalk frames, allowing passersby in Downtown Durham and the Brightleaf District to view them at any time, day or night.
A huge THANK YOU to our exhibit sponsors…
Ellen and Kenneth Reckhow
Dave and Anne Brumbaugh
Kris and Kristy Miller
Robinson Everett, Jr.
Haneef Saleem