UP and Roosevelt students work together to bring civil rights exhibit to Portland
(Ian Hilger | THE BEACON)
By Natalie Wheeler, Staff Writer -- wheelern12@up.edu
Senior biology major Monica McAllister rode her bike, camera in hand, to Roosevelt High School every Thursday night last semester not because she had a job there and not because she was an education student, but because she was inspired by some students at Roosevelt, a low-income high school in North Portland with a high dropout rate.
"After talking to (the Roosevelt students) and hearing their perspective, hearing them want to go to college, especially hearing them want to come here … I couldn't say no," McAllister said.
McAllister began photographing the Roosevelt Rough Writers, a group of Roosevelt students and UP education students who interviewed local activists and former Freedom Riders of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement and wrote about their newfound knowledge. Their work and McAllister's photographs are now part of an exhibit travelling through Portland, "Freedom Fighters, Riders and Writers," which visited UP from Jan. 18-20.
McAllister first heard about the Rough Writers through her housemate, senior Claire Eldred, an education major who was involved in the project through her Social Studies Methods class. Eldred said the venture started as a way to incorporate both history and language arts into a project, but it also gave students a local perspective on history.
"It puts it into a context for the kids," Eldred said. "The idea of using the surrounding history to make a larger national history make better sense is extremely valuable."
The Roosevelt students' awareness about the Freedom Riders began after some of them went on a school-sponsored trip to the South last spring, where they visited civil rights sites and historically black colleges.
As a result of the students' interest in the civil rights movement, last semester UP's Social Studies Methods students began working with Roosevelt students to interview two former Freedom Riders living in the Portland area. They also interviewed local activists in North Portland, referred to as "Freedom Fighters."
The UP and Roosevelt students soon began channeling their newfound knowledge into responses, poems and other forms of creative writing.
Through a grant from Oregon Campus Compact, the Rough Writers were able to partner with PBS's national Freedom Rider exhibit to create the Portland-based "Freedom Fighters, Riders and Writers." The local exhibit combines the work of the Rough Writers with PBS's Freedom Rider exhibit.
According to Roosevelt senior Ohna Floie, the project has grown into an important learning experience that no textbook could offer.
"I want to go to college, and I will go to college," Floie said. "Knowing that the Freedom Riders never gave up, they kept fighting, makes me think that I can too."
Education professor Richard Christen taught the Social Studies Methods class that worked alongside Roosevelt students during the process. He said his students' involvement grew organically as they witnessed what the Roosevelt students were doing.
"Initially I think we went in thinking we would be just kind of helping, but when we got further into it we realized we wanted to contribute too," Christen said.
Eldred hopes to incorporate similar lessons into her future classroom, not only for the academic value, but to give students like Floie aspirations that they feel they can reach.
"It can be daunting to look at someone like Obama for inspiration, because that's just not possible for most people," Eldred said. "It's an empowerment to know that your community has many leaders in it in all sorts of different ways."
