ORAL HISTORY PROJECTStudents in Honors US History 2 must complete an Oral History Project, which can address a significant development in United States history between 1929 and 2001 (roughly the year students were born). Students will be required to submit a typed interview transcript and a 5-7 page typed oral history paper that describes an interview with someone who lived through one of the events covered in this course.
Since 2001, Mealy's students in US History 2 have completed this project. Though not expected, many of the students have taken great lengths to contact interview subjects living across the country. As a result, students have produced astounding works. Topics have ranged from refugees entering the United States from Cambodia and Bosnia to a Navy officer who survived the terror attack on the U.S.S. Cole in 2000; from students that attended newly desegregated schools throughout the South to an American diplomat in Iran during the Islamic Revolution; from the theories of the alleged son of the Zodiac killer to the survival tactics of a club-goer trapped inside the Stonewall Inn when it was raided by police in 1969; from an experience in a Pennsylvania Hooverville to that of a medic in the Korean War; from a child beaten and imprisoned during Martin Luther King's "Children's March" in 1963 to a fullback on the University of Pittsburgh's 1976 national championship team. Some of the students will have their work posted on this website and made available for the public to see! Posted projects include the audio of students' interviews, the interview transcripts, and final papers.
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See Some Examples of images obtained over the years
Manor Township High School (presently Penn Manor HS) 1926-1927 Girls' Basketball team. Courtesy of "The Parrot," Manor Twp HS Yearbook, 1927.
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Manor Township High School (Presently Penn Manor HS) 1926-1927 Boys' Basketball team. Courtesy of "The Parrot," Manor Twp HS Yearbook, 1927.
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The 1943-1944 Manor Township and Millersville Boro High School Cheerleaders. Courtesy of "Trumpeter" Yearbook, 1944.
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Image of U.S. Senator Robert Kennedy in 1965, Courtesy of Thomas J. Mealy.
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Image of the late Nelson Polite (third from the right) protesting the segregated swimming pool at Rocky Springs in Aug. 1963. Courtesy of Lancaster Newspapers.
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Image of boycotters outside the Hager's Department Store in July 1963. Courtesy of Lancaster Newspapers.
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watch and learn from experienced writers
Watch this video of Isabel Wilkerson talking about her experience writing "The Warmth of Other Suns." (3 min. 44 secs.)
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Adlit. "Practical Advice for Conducting an Oral History Interview." YouTube. Published on Apr 7, 2014 (2 min, 43 secs.)
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