Traveling to Lincoln from Boston, Higginbotham said her grandfather, the Rev. Walter Henderson Brooks, was born a slave in 1851. He “worked” for a tobacco company in Richmond, Virginia.

At the heart of the celebration was the creation of Peace Tree “leaves,” which were colorful handprints crafted by students.

A winter storm could bring snow and ice to Southeast Georgia and the South Carolina Lowcountry in the coming days.