Penn State students interview and write about local individuals and communities. Many of the Center’s research- and writing- based partnerships lead to publicly shared books and websites of local history and oral history. Many of the Center’s research- and writing- based partnerships lead to publicly shared books and websites on local history and oral history, several of which can be found at http://sites.psu.edu/localhistories/. Others are offered in community centers for the specific group students have worked with. Students enjoy engaging and learning from community partners, and it also affords them networking opportunities. Short summaries of some of the local and oral histories are found below.
Our City Inside Out: Changing Perceptions of Reading
Our City Inside Out: Changing Perceptions of Reading, a compilation of stories, was produced through a partnership between English 472 students and several Latino/a community leaders who work hard in various ways to enhance quality of life in Reading and to replace negative perceptions with more accurate, positive stories of the city and its people. English 472: Current Theories of Writing and Reading, taught by Dr. Laurie Grobman, centers around such issues as story, narrative, authorship, rhetoric, voice, and justice. This project culminated in the publication of a book “Our City Inside Out” and a coordinated web site.
We are Reading: Dancing in the City
Communications, English
Students in Dr. Laurie Grobman and Dr. Cheryl Nicholas’ CAS 296 and ENGL 296 Special Topics Courses completed a story project produced through a partnership between six hip hop dancers from Reading, PA and five students at Penn State Berks during the Spring 2018 semester. The six dancers were in “This is Reading,” a performance art installation in Reading in July 2017 written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage. The project uses the dancers’ stories as a route to try to understand life in Reading, along with its challenges and triumphs. The stories about these young dancers offer us a way to engage with the city and look to possibilities for its future. The project also helps student-writers grapple with difficult topics, from racism and post-industrial decline, to ethical and perspectival considerations when writing about individuals and communities different from their own. This project culminated in the publication of a book “We are Reading: Dancing in the City” and a coordinated web site. https://www.wearereading.org/
A Portrait of Life in Northwest Reading
“A Portrait of Life in Northwest Reading,” a community report, was written by students Keanny Rosario and Miguel Colon. It follows the model of a community report from the University of Kansas Community Tool Box, a free, online resource for those working to build healthier communities and bring about social change. The community report was written as part of the Schuylkill River Trail (SRT) Revitalization and Litter Reduction project, a community-engaged effort to revitalize a section of the Schuylkill River Trail in northwest Reading and to work with neighborhood residents to reduce littering behavior in the neighborhood. A primary aim of the report was to connect with local residents and their concerns to maximize collaborative participation in the trail and litter project.
The Vietnam War in History and in Memory
American Studies
Students enrolled in Dr. Michelle Mart’s American Studies 100 class studied the causes and course of the Vietnam War. They also learned about the effects of the war on the soldiers who fought in it by interviewing local Berks County veterans. The students wrote a narrative essay about the veteran they interviewed, and those narratives and interview transcriptions were compiled into a book, The Vietnam War through the Eyes of Berks County Veterans, and disseminated locally.
The Reading Police Oral History Project
English
Students in Justin De Senso’s ENGL 202 class became oral historians as they each interviewed, interpreted, researched and wrote biographies of 14 Reading police officers about the challenges of policing and the toll it takes on their lives. The completed essays were compiled into the book, Understanding the Lives of Those Who Serve and Protect, and disseminated locally.
Olivet Boys and Girls Club History
English, Communication Arts and Sciences
Forty-five students from courses taught by Dr. Laurie Grobman and Dr. Jill Burk contributed original research and writing about the history of the Olivet Boys & Girls Club of Reading. Part 1 culminated in the publication of a book titled A History of the First Three Decades of the Olivet Boys & Girls Club in Reading, Pennsylvania (available online). The project continued the following semester.
Olivet Boys and Girls Club History Part 2
English, Women’s Studies
Students in Dr. Ray Mazurek’s English 202A wrote 25 oral histories of Olivet alumni. Students in Dr. Laurie Grobman’s English 15 course researched and wrote about Olivet in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, and students in her Women’s Studies course researched and wrote articles on women and girls in the organization’s history. Part 2 culminated in A History of the Olivet Boys & Girls Club in Reading, Pennsylvania, Continued (available online). Producing and disseminating a written history of this community organization is empowering for the children attending now and in the future. Currently a largely Hispanic population, these children will see themselves as part of a rich legacy of breaking the cycle of poverty through education, hard work, and ethical values.
Partnerships with the Central PA African American Museum (CPAAM)
The next five projects continue a decade-long partnership through which Penn State Berks, the Central PA African American Museum (CPAAM) in Reading, and the Reading branch of the NAACP pursue the museum’s mission to recover, uncover, document, preserve and disseminate local black history. This collaboration seeks to expand and remediate the historical record that has for too long excluded and distorted African Americans.
Reflections on the Civil Rights Movement in Reading
English
Students partnered with CPAAM to uncover new perspectives on history by documenting the Civil Rights Movement in Reading, Pennsylvania. Students interviewed 22 African Americans who lived in Reading during the Civil Rights Movement with the aim of eliciting these individuals’ experiences about the movement. From these rich personal stories, students, community members, and the professor researched, wrote, and preserved a history of the Civil Rights Movement as experienced by African American members of the local community. The manuscript, Through the Eyes of Local African Americans: Reflections on the Civil Rights Movement in Reading and Berks County, Pennsylvania (available online), was printed and shared, and copies remain in the CPAAM exhibit.
African American Women’s Biographies
African American Studies, Women’s Studies
Students in Dr. Laurie Grobman’s Women’s Studies/African American Studies course partnered with CPAAM to interview and write biographical essays of 25 African American Berks County women. These biographies were displayed as a special exhibit at the CPAAM museum for women’s history month in March 2017.
Documentaries of Local African American History
English
Nine students in English 471 created four 10- to15- minute documentaries of local African American history on the former stops on the Underground Railroad in Berks County, African American military veterans and personnel from Berks County, the Central Pennsylvania African American Museum in Reading, and African American women in Berks County.
Stories Beyond the African American History
Composition
Students in Dr. Laurie Grobman's English 30 Honors Composition and English 15 classes collaborated with Frank Gilyard and his colleagues to research and write Stories Behind and Beyond the CPAAM Exhibits. While studying such topics as African American history, local history, historical reality versus historical knowledge, and the writing of history, students expanded and deepened the historical information displayed in the exhibits at CPAAM. Volume 1 and Volume 2 are available online.
A Collection of African American History in Berks County, PA
English, American Studies, Ethnic Studies
In partnership with the Reading branch of the NAACP, students in two classes wrote a 126-page volume of short essays and compilations of facts called Woven with Words: A Collection of African American History in Berks County, Pennsylvania and a corresponding website. A panel with three students in the project presented their research at the 2006 Annual Pennsylvania Conference on African American History, and two articles by students in the project were published in The Berks Historical Review, the quarterly magazine of the Berks History Center.
Hispanic Histories in Reading and Berks
English
Students in two general education courses, First Year Composition and Alternative Voices in American Literature, wrote life history narratives of 16 Latino/a community members from Reading and Berks. 1500 copies of the 42-page booklet, Hispanic Histories in Reading and Berks: A Glimpse into the Community (available online), were distributed throughout Reading and Berks by Centro Hispano Daniel Torres, Inc.
A Portrait of a Community: Hispanics/Latinos
English, American Studies, Communication Arts and Sciences, Global Studies
Working in partnership with Centro Hispano of Reading, students in an interdisciplinary upper-division course, Community-Based Research, sought out, interpreted, documented, and preserved the histories of the local Latino community(ies). The 132-page book, Hispanics/Latinos in Reading and Berks: A Portrait of a Community (available online), was distributed throughout Berks County. The book was unveiled at the Hispanic Center Annual Gala in May 2010.
Jewish Reading and Berks County
English, American Studies, Communication Arts and Sciences, Global Studies
Twelve students in an upper-level interdisciplinary course produced a photographic history of the Berks County Jewish community for Arcadia Publishing's "Images in America" series. The students gathered more than 200 images and high quality photographs, researched and wrote captions for each photo, and wrote introductory text for each chapter. The book is available for purchase.
A History of the Jewish Community in Reading and Berks County
English, American Studies, Communication Arts and Sciences, Global Studies
In an interdisciplinary upper-level course, students worked in partnership with the Jewish Community Center to write a local history of Berks County's Jewish community. Students wrote life narratives of Holocaust survivors who live or have lived in Berks County. The Albright College Library in Reading has a Holocaust Center and over 30 videotapes of survivors are housed there. 202H students used these videos to create written life histories. In order to help students to understand the context and meaning of survivor testimonies, the course investigated aspects of the Holocaust through several humanities perspectives: history, oral history, museum studies, literature, and film. The book is available online.
Stories From the Reading Pagoda's Windows
Communication Arts and Sciences
Students in Dr. Jill Burk's CAS 201 course investigated the history and stories surrounding the buildings that comprise the City of Reading skyline as seen through the windows of the Pagoda, a local landmark and tourist attraction. This project enabled students to recognize and apply rhetorical theories and concepts outside of the classroom plus the importance of rhetoric and participation in local civic life. Students who enrolled in CAS 222: Foundations of Community & Civic Engagement continued this community-based research, focusing on the implications of public meaning in shaping communities. The compilation of the students' work, A Landmark's Legacy: Stories From the Reading Pagoda's Windows was published.