60 Years Apart, Connected by Spelman: A Sisterhood That Bridges Generations

Through The Legacy Project’s Intergenerational Changemakers Program, Two Spelman Sisters Six Decades Apart Found Friendship, Shared Purpose and a Powerful Connection to History

More than sixty years separate Lauren Valentine, C’2028, and Dr. Georgianne Thomas, C’64.

One is a 20-year-old Spelman College student, in the thick of biology and chemistry courses in preparation for a future career in medicine. The other is an 83-year-old civil rights activist who helped shape history during the Atlanta Student Movement. Dr. Georgianne Thomas, 83, is a member of Spelman’s Class of 1964, educator, author, filmmaker, and civil rights activist who served as executive producer of Foot Soldiers: Class of 1964, an award-winning documentary about Spelman students. On paper, their lives might belong to different eras. In reality, their stories are deeply connected.

Valentine and Dr. Thomas first met when paired through The Legacy Project, Inc.’s Intergenerational Changemakers Program. Beyond just participating in a 9-month program together, the two found something far deeper, a friendship that illustrates that historical accounts travel beyond mere textbooks, but through age-gap conversations and the willingness to learn from someone different than you.

As a current Spelman student, Valentine saw an opportunity to learn from someone whose experiences could offer a deeper understanding of her college’s history and the generations of women who came before her.

“For me, I feel like it was really important to do a project with somebody who went to Spelman, who is a Black woman, because we're going to have that shared experience, that shared information, we're going to have that bond,” Valentine explained.

That shared Spelman identity created an immediate sense of familiarity between them.  Despite the decades between them, neither saw age as a barrier. Instead, it became an opportunity. What could have been a simple mentor-mentee pairing instead felt like the continuation of a larger story, one connecting generations of Spelman women through shared values, challenges, and aspirations.

Dr. Thomas quipped, in reply “When Lauren said, ‘I'm at Spelman,’ I told her to stop right there” she recalled. “Because we have a sisterhood. And when you hear Spelman, it means stop and find out what that sister needs.”

Valentine and Dr. Thomas’ conversations became a bridge between generations, proving that learning is mutual. For Valentine, the fellowship offered a rare opportunity to encounter history through lived experience rather than textbooks. “So this was just a great experience for me to really, truly immerse myself in that firsthand Black history,” she said. History, often taught through dates, textbooks, and documentaries, became something more personal and human through Dr. Thomas’s enthusiastic storytelling.

Her enthusiasm for civil rights remains as strong today as it was decades ago. For Dr. Thomas, the fellowship gave her confidence that the stories and lessons of her generation would not be forgotten. Through Valentine’s curiosity, thoughtful questions, and eagerness to learn, Dr. Thomas found reassurance that younger generations are ready and willing to carry important stories forward. Explaining what the fellowship meant to her, Dr. Thomas said, “the idea that I actually have a name. And a warm body. At Spelman College. And a student. That meant the world.”

Through this fellowship, they were not simply learning about history, they were engaging with it. Dr. Thomas, who marched, organized, and challenged injustice in the 1960s, shared her story directly with Valentine, who herself hopes to be a changemaker in her community. For Dr. Thomas, carrying that legacy is essential.

I wanted her to see, at 83 and she's 20, that the work continues,” said Dr. Thomas. “We're still out here on the battlefield. We're still on the journey. We continue to teach.” Her message was not only about remembering the past, but about accepting responsibility for carrying it forward.

Already, Valentine has shared Dr. Thomas’s experiences with friends, family members, and classmates. As Dr. Thomas reflected on working with Valentine, she shared advice on how to truly connect with other generations, saying, “Remind the older ones that they were younger,” she said. “And then the younger ones need to remember that this is where you're going.” Their collaboration continues beyond The Legacy Project’s fellowship, with ongoing plans to install markers commemorating the Atlanta Student Movement across the Atlanta University Center Consortium campuses, and Dr. Thomas expressing hope to include Valentine in future dedication programs.

In a society that often divides people by age, Valentine and Dr. Thomas show how The Legacy Project’s Changemaker Fellowship creates space for friendship and storytelling across generations. Their story demonstrates that when generations choose to connect, both are transformed as they work together to carry legacy across the past, present, and future.

The lesson from Valentine and Dr. Thomas’ story extends far beyond Spelman College. Every community has historical accounts of triumph that never make it into history books. In the same vein, every younger person inherits responsibilities they did not choose but must decide whether to carry, and how to shape the path forward.

As Dr. Thomas reminded Valentine, "You cannot put down the mantle that I picked up in 1960." She said, “I’m still carrying it in 2026.”

The question is whether we are creating enough opportunities for one generation to place it into the hands of the next, in collaboration.

If we want history to remain alive, we must do more than preserve it. We must share it, through intentional intergenerational conversation and collaboration. And Spelman sisters, 60-years apart, are leading the way.

Article courtesy of The Legacy Project, Inc.