It was amazing to actually meet all of them in person. After watching the interview, I felt like I already knew them. That is how relatable they were to us as students. We were able to go back in time through the stories they told. Using the information they told us, we can properly compare and contrast the similarities and differences at the college. They were so relatable, and it was a joy to be around them.
I saw Hidden Figures plenty of times before this trip, but the impact I got from watching the movie was the same. The movie is so inspirational and up-lifting. The actresses had so much patience and determination to succeed. It is motivational to every woman watching regardless of color. Being an African American woman comes with double oppression which we saw in the film. The white men were superior to the white women who were superior to the African American women. We got to watch the power differentials and really got visualize a watered down version of the interactions and obstacles that not only women had to face but African American women. It was the perfect selection for an all woman trip.
Just within today’s beginning of the project, there has been so much information and knowledge shared and the inspiration already streaming is immeasurable. We began today with an overview of the community rules and goals we hope to achieve which to me already gave me high hopes for what the group together can achieve, as everyone seems ready to share the safe space and contribute to in depth discussions surrounding the themes of this years project. We then delved into the Lemon Project as an organization, and there the amount of excitement, enthusiasm, and pure passion for the topic at hand from the leading graduate students only increased my personal excitement and passion about the topic. Then did we get to learn about the specifics of the theme we will be focusing on for this year’s project, which is: the rethinking of spaces on campus that are familar to us today by using primary sources from the Legacy Three to aid in the reconstructing of the relationship between African Americans and the College of William and Mary. This project comes at an opportune time, as in 2017 the College is also celebrating its 50th anniversary of the admittance of African Americans at the College, while in 2018 the College celebrates the admittance of women. Given that all the participants on the trip, the graduate students, and the Legacy Three are all women just gives an overall sense of empowerment that is so uplifting and exhilarating, or well to me at least. We then were able to watch an interview with Lynn, Karen, and Janet where we got to get a preview of their insights and experiences as students here, while being the first African American students as well. One of the most fascinating poins that I gained from the interview as a whole was just the amazement of how something that became so powerful and influential to so many generations later, was at the time so simple to the Legacy Three. For in their minds, they were only simply choosing to attend a university as students ready to learn. Then as we began to actually work towards that goal by separating into groups not only did I get to witness everyone else’s minds spurring with energy and interest but I too got to encounter random fascinating facts and plenty of points of interest that will aid in the efforts of completing the project. Topping off the day with the viewing of Hidden Figures was perfect as it tied together the themes of the project as well as overall empowerment to women and minority women everywhere in a delightful and heartening film. I already have high hopes and much excitement for what tomorrow brings, and I already know there is no way I could be disappointed considering the brilliant minds I get to work with on the project, as well as the strong and powerful women (aka Janet, Lynn, and Karen) that I will have the pleasure to meet and interview.
My first day at the Lemon Project was full of community, laughter, and new knowledge. We started the day creating rules and goals for the weekend, followed by learning about the actual project we are going to create. The first part of the day (and my favorite part of the day) was watching the interview of the Legacy 3 done by William and Mary libraries because I was struck by the humanity of their experiences at the college. Before they came, they were not aware that they were the first African American residential students at William and Mary, and from the stories they told, it seemed like that was never the main focus of their experience. Their freshman year was full of the same experiences and struggles as mine: learning to live away from home, making new friends, and adjusting to rigorous academics. It drove home the fact that we are all humans trying to survive and thrive in whatever situation life decides to put us in. Their situation was exceptional, though. I noticed this when all three women mentioned that they felt pressure to succeed and graduate because of their unique situation as the first African American residential students at the college. The thought was that they had to succeed to show the people who doubted them, and the people who may be in a similar situation, that it could be done. We all watched the video as a group, laughed at the same stories, and related to the same experiences, and I think this brought us together and inspired us to continue working to tell the story of these women and the spaces and places they occupied.
The second part of the day was spent brainstorming our projects and research. My group decided to focus on residential and study spaces, which I think will further this theme of relatability and community. The women lived in Jefferson Hall as freshman, which still serves as a freshman dorm today. They also spent hours and hours studying for classes, just as we do now. By studying the buildings they occupied, which we also occupy, and their experiences in them, we can contextualize their situation and experiences in order to further understand and relate to them. I am so excited to meet, interview, and learn even more from the women tomorrow, and to keep creating an awesome and supportive (and educational) community with my group members and leaders.
Following an intense and fascinating first day working on the Lemon Project, I find myself thinking about pioneers. In the interview that we saw, I was struck by the fact that none of the three women set out to be the first black student on campus. In fact, they were not aware of their status as the first black residential students until they arrived at W&M. Each of them applied to college, got in, and chose to attend this institution simply because they wanted an education. Just like the women of Hidden Figures, they had a goal and decided to achieve it. The fact that they were the first to do so was simply a byproduct of their determination. Although it seems obvious in retrospect, this was an interesting revelation for me. It also served as a reminder that those making history do not necessarily realize their own significance. I really enjoyed meeting Janet Brown Strafer, and I’m very excited to speak with all three women in person tomorrow.
Feeling like you have to prove something to someone or yourself weighs one down, but it can also fuel resiliency. During our first “meeting” with the Legacy 3, an oral history interview, the theme of persevering manifested in various forms. All three women mentioned forms of external pressure as a driving force to continue—external pressures in the form of pessimistic counselors, attention from the school newspaper, a predominantly white environment, or racist school administrators. At one point in the interview, these external pressures were referred to as a “burden” that the Legacy 3 had to carry in addition to navigating William & Mary’s rigorous academic life. While the women acknowledged that they were conscious of an extra sense of responsibility—to “represent” other African American scholars—they appeared to openly accept this additional task with a certain ease. Even now, when asked about their status as pioneers, the Legacy 3 almost shrug and respond—“we were just students going to college.” I found their grounded philosophy inspiring and telling of internal resiliency–one that does not require recognition to find meaning. The women preferred not dwell longer than necessary on exclusive circumstances—instead, they visualized discouragement and pressure as reasons to keep moving forward. The hurdles they encountered as both women and the first residential African American students became, in part, an anchor for staying and completing their education. As Karen voiced, their vision was to open William & Mary’s campus to more African American students who could proudly reimagine the African American presence on campus as scholars. I was intrigued with the Legacy 3’s ability to translate what one might conceive as insurmountable barriers into a meaningful internal momentum. I believe that the women have managed to prove themselves without loosing themselves to external influences, which is extremely commendable. They have, in short, reimagined pressure as purpose.
Sarah McLennan, Lemon Project History Fellow 2012-2013
[This post was originally published on the William & Mary Academic Technology Blog]
When I conducted my first oral history project back in 1999, I used a cassette recorder to tape the interviews, and a 35 mm camera to take images on slide film. The materials were deposited in a library archive, only available to users on-site. Advances in technology over the past decade, particularly with digital audio recorders and video cameras, have reshaped the options and opportunities for collecting, archiving, and providing access to oral histories. Oral History in the Digital Age is an excellent resource on developments in digital technology and oral history. This site collates a wide variety of information, from technical advice on choosing equipment, to strategies for indexing and making content available online, to considerations of the impact of digital technology on the field.
Making Oral History More Accessible
One major effect of digital technology has been making oral history more accessible, in terms of both collection and use. Digital recorders and cameras are compact, portable, relatively simple to use, and can produce high quality recordings. They are also becoming increasingly affordable, enabling more people to undertake oral history projects, and making it easier to carry equipment into the field. Editing software, online archiving and databases, and websites that host video and audio media offer ways to make content available more quickly and to a wider audience than ever before. Users are able to hear and/or see the interviews themselves, rather than relying on transcripts. Projects like the Oral History Metadata Synchronizer (OHMS), developed by the University of Kentucky’s Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History and Digital Library Services, are making it easier to search multiple interviews by subject, and pinpoint relevant passages in each recording for use in research.
Increased access also raises issues of intellectual property and authorization. As Doug Boyd noted in a recent essay, “Informed consent takes on a new connotation when considering global distribution, and serious privacy concerns arise.” It is critical to make intended uses of oral histories clear in consent forms and project descriptions, and inform interviewees of their options to restrict use of the material.
My Work with W&M’s Lemon Project
My current work conducting oral histories with Dr. Jody Allen for the Lemon Project at the College of William & Mary has provided first-hand experience with many of these new technologies. The Lemon Project Oral History Collection is a large-scale project designed to provide a fuller picture of the experiences of African Americans at the College of William & Mary. Through interviews with alumni, faculty, staff, and community members, the collection chronicles the history of integration and race relations at the college, as well as its relationship with the surrounding community from the era of Jim Crow to the present. We have been filming the interviews using a high definition digital camera, and making scans or digital photos of related documents. The Swem Media Center is a major campus resource for this type of project; it has provided us with studio space, cameras, lights, microphones, digital recorders, editing, and technical assistance.
One of the goals of the Lemon Project is to link historical research with community outreach, using the documentation and recognition of the College’s history as a platform to further improve community relations and communications. The availability of digital technology has allowed the Lemon Project to collect high quality filmed interviews that can easily be made available online, used in documentaries or presentations, and also be housed for researchers in the University Archives at Swem Library. These interviews offer perspectives and information not available in other sources. The current technology not only facilitates collecting and preserving these sources, but connecting them to the historical record and to the public in ways I never imagined back in the days of slides and audio cassettes.