Black Child Development Institute of Greensboro, Inc. (BCDI-G) was founded in 1978 and chartered in 1979 by Greensboro resident Sarah Walden Herbin.  Mrs. Herbin was born on September 15, 1916, in Concord, North Carolina, and was the daughter of a minister and a teacher. She graduated from William Penn High School in High Point and continued her education at Bennett College in Greensboro, studying both English and Music.

Following in the steps of her mother, Mrs. Herbin taught in the public schools of Graham, Siler City, and Greensboro, North Carolina, before moving to New York with her husband Charles.  Described by Mrs. Herbin as an interesting experience, their time in New York only lasted five years before returning to Greensboro following the death of Charles’s mother. Mrs. Herbin did not return to teaching but accepted a Bookkeeping position at her Alma Mater, Bennett College in 1951.

In 1953 she accepted a secretarial position with the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). Four years later she was promoted to Director of the organization’s Merit Employment Program.  In this position, she was responsible for placing African Americans in nontraditional jobs.

She remained at the AFSC until 1963, until she was appointed to a cabinet position in the North Carolina Department of Administration as Employment Service Representative. This made Mrs. Herbin the first Black member of Governor Terry Sanford’s cabinet.  At the end of Governor Sanford’s tenure in 1965, she became a Grant Officer for the North Carolina Fund, an anti-poverty program based in Durham. She later moved in 1969, to serve as the Director and Technical Assistant for the Black Women’s’ Community  Development Foundation in Washington, DC. Subsequently, it was during her time in Washington that she co-founded the National Black Child Development Institute after seeing the need for advocacy and literacy in the black community. Mrs. Herbin not only co-founded the National Office but opened two southern affiliates, one in Atlanta and Greensboro.

Several awards were presented to Mrs. Herbin during her lifetime, including the Lewis Hine Award and the Governor’s Community Volunteer Award, both awarded to her for her 30 plus years of service to children. 

Mrs. Herbin died on July 19, 2003, at the age of 86 and was best known for her tireless efforts in the areas of civil rights and child advocacy.

BCDI-G continues to answer Mrs. Herbin’s call to action by offering year-round programs and workshops, all free or low cost, and all geared towards meeting our mission of improving and protecting the quality of life of children, youth, and families in the Greater Greensboro community.