In this rewrite, a graduate fellow breathes new life into Ghana’s colonial-era library by centering Ghanaians’ stories. But here’s where it gets controversial: can a single student’s project truly rebalance a history written by outsiders—and should it?
Graduate fellow elevates local voices in a colonial-era library
When Fowota Mortoo visited Keta Library in Ghana in 2024, she felt a surge of excitement about the two-story pink building. She hoped the library would be rich with materials about Keta, the coastal town that anchors her family history. Instead, she found the space and its experience somewhat empty.
Opened a few years after Ghana’s independence in 1957, the Keta Library is still stocked largely with books shaped by British colonial perspectives. Its shelves lack stories, art, and voices from Ghanaians themselves, including the Eʋe people of Keta.
After talking with the Keta librarian, Dela Odamson, and Eʋe historians, Mortoo decided to take action to balance the imbalance. “That’s when I thought, ‘Oh, my graduate work could respond to this and be useful in some way,’” said Mortoo, a graduate student in UNC Chapel Hill’s geography and environment department.
For her master’s thesis, Mortoo proposed a collaborative redesign of Keta Library. She spoke with Eʋe artists, poets, and community members, gathered oral histories, and curated maps, texts, photographs, and other materials. She also designed a courtyard garden for the library’s exterior, featuring plants native to Keta.
This project, supported by a National Science Foundation graduate fellowship, exemplifies why Mortoo’s advisor, Chérie Rivers Ndaliko, calls her an “exceptional student whose accomplishments bring prestige to UNC.”
Mortoo was one of only four geography students nationwide to receive the NSF graduate fellowship. She has earned invitations to prestigious international residencies in Senegal and Ghana and was named one of 25 Young Climate Prize Awardees under 25 globally by architecture and design nonprofit The World Around.
A double Tar Heel, Mortoo (Class of ’22, ’25) will obtain her second UNC-Chapel Hill degree on December 14 at Winter Commencement.
A multidisciplinary approach
Mortoo often describes three “froms”—three places she calls home. Although her family is from Ghana, she spent her childhood in New York and moved to North Carolina as a teen. Those experiences shape how she thinks about geography and the ties between people and places.
“A lot of my work now is about what we lose—whether it’s language or other knowledge—when we relocate or when history erases certain voices,” Mortoo said. “There are also things we gain, of course, but I’m focused on what’s lost and how we can sustain it.”
Her geography work draws on history, architecture, and ecology, blending with visual arts, creative writing, and photography. The Ghana project was personally meaningful, offering a chance to connect with her family’s roots. Keta, however, also functions as a crucial case study.
For decades, climate change has eroded Keta’s shoreline, prompting out-migration and substantial community disruption.
“There are many coastal communities facing the same question: What will we do when this land disappears?” Mortoo said. “And how can we preserve our identities and knowledge systems when we’ve relocated to a new place?”
After graduation, Mortoo plans to keep pursuing those big questions. She expressed gratitude for her experiences at Carolina and for the mentorship she received from Rivers.
“Approaching Commencement, I’m deeply moved by the support I’ve received from professors in the geography department and from people in Ghana who have supported the project,” Mortoo said. “Everyone has played a formative role in moving this work forward.”
