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ODU professor, students take trip Smithsonian to see Nat Turner Bible

Posted at 3:10 PM, Feb 19, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-19 15:10:09-05

NORFOLK, Va. – An Old Dominion University adjunct faculty member and 55 students traveled to Washington, D.C. Saturday to learn more about an important artifact tied to the school.

Women’s Studies Professor Wendy Porter’s family had a Bible owned by Nat Turner, who was killed in 1831 for leading the slave rebellion in southeastern Virginia. Porter’s family donated the Bible to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Porter and the students took a trip, organized by the Office of Intercultural Relations, to the museum Saturday morning to learn more about the ODU connection to the Bible.

“Some of the students selected to take part might not even know who Nat Turner is, or might not know a lot about him. But his story is important to the history of America, and connected to this region as well,” said Jasmine Omorogbe, associate director for intercultural activities in the Office of Intercultural Relations.

More than 300 students applied for seats on the bus and had to write an essay to be selected.