the
legacy project By Lori Ranner
In the spirit of Ursuline’s Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Task Force, and in collaboration with teaching artists from the Life Jacket Theatre Company of New York City, the Diversity of Women Club developed a service-learning project with the intention of highlighting the rich and complex history of our school, built around the personal witness of those who lived it. Using intensive and creative analytical research methods, the ultimate aim of this project has been to create an oral history database of the women who spearheaded the integration of Ursuline Academy in the 1960s, as well as other alumnae from underrepresented communities whose lived experiences will be preserved both to connect the present generation of Ursuline girls with their past and to inspire generations of the future. All interested students were encouraged to apply to participate in this historic project, with an emphasis on pairing students of today with alumnae from similar or shared formative communities and/or identities. Eleven students were ultimately chosen to collaborate virtually during the course of the 20202021 academic year with Oral Historian Nicki Pombier of Life Jacket Theatre Company and Columbia University in New York City. Students attended multiple workshops and mock interviews, learning how to construct and conduct effective in-depth field research according to the academic norms of modern URSULINE ACADEMY | 28 | THE URSU.LINES | 2020-2021
