Dr. Margaret B. Arbuckle has been named the recipient of the 2025 Lifetime Community Service Award from the International Civil Rights Center & Museum, and when she received word of that honor, she burst into tears.
The award is given to leaders who’ve advanced civil and human rights through their service to their communities.
Arbuckle will be honored at the International Civil Rights Center & Museum’s Annual Fundraising Gala on Saturday, July 19, at the Joseph S. Koury Convention Center.
That gala of the museum used to be held early in the year however in recent years it has moved to summers.
Arbuckle’s work in advocacy, education, and public life covers more than five decades and certainly demonstrates those values throughout that half century.
Her involvement in the preservation of the historic downtown F.W. Woolworth’s building – the site of the 1960 Greensboro sit-ins – is one excellent example.
As a Guilford County Commissioner back in the 1990s, she voted to fund what would years later become the International Civil Rights Center & Museum – even though the decision faced significant political opposition in her district. Arbuckle believed then, and still believes, that “there had not been a more important thing to happen in our community than the Sit-In Movement.”
Today, she says she feels affirmed in that vote every time she walks into the museum, which received National Historic Landmark status earlier this year.
Her understanding of racial inequality began early in life: She said she recalls, as a child riding a bus from Davidson to Charlotte, asking her mother why Black riders had to sit in the back. The answer — “just the way it is” — left an impression on her. Years later, she found herself in a position to fight for change after being shaped by her experiences coming of age during the 1960s and learning from African American leaders in the Civil Rights Movement.
Arbuckle’s career in public life began in 1966 as a legislative secretary for a US Senator.
She then went on to teach preschool and earned her M.A. in Education and a Ph.D. in Child Development and Family Relations from UNCG. Her career focus became early childhood education and child advocacy. She served in leadership roles at UNCG’s Center for Youth, Family, and Community Partnerships and later as Executive Director of the Guilford Education Alliance. In both positions, she advanced work on school reform and early childhood programs, and promoted efforts to reduce the school-to-prison pipeline. She was a frequent speaker before the Guilford County Board of Commissioners advocating for the school system.
“We know that for children who have a wealth of early experience, their brains develop better than a child who doesn’t have that,” Arbuckle said. “Helping people in public policy to understand that has been a real mission of people seeking equal opportunity for our children.”
She was also instrumental in the creation of the Guilford County Office for Children during her time on the Board of Commissioners from 1992 to 1996. Arbuckle later served as chair of the NC Child Advocacy Institute – now known as NC Child.
Her work has consistently emphasized mental health, equity and support for children with complex needs.
Now retired, she remains active as a mentor and advisor, and she says she has zero plans to stop contributing to the community.
Arbuckle speaks with pride about her husband of 52 years and their three children.
Over the years, she’s received a host of honors, with awards from UNCG, Salem College, the United Way of Greater Greensboro, the Black Child Development Institute, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Also, she has twice been named Woman of the Year – once by the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro and again by the News & Record.
The Guilford Education Alliance has even created an award in her name.
Tickets and sponsorships for the gala are now available.
