The Legacy Project

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

oral history. In this interactive, hands-on laboratory, students practiced formulating and asking thoughtful questions that would inspire alumnae to tell compelling stories and anecdotes about their days at Ursuline Academy. Students also learned how to demonstrate empathy in order to better connect and build rapport with their interviewees, practice active listening skills, and apply those skills for managing difficult interviewing situations. Interviewees represented a wide range of Ursuline alumnae, whose graduation dates spanned the last six decades and many of whom were either grandmothers or mothers of current Ursuline students. One student, Phoenix Wilson, had the opportunity to interview her own mother –comparing their experiences as Ursuline women. Other students enjoyed the opportunity to interview and document the stories of alumnae who have endlessly enriched the Ursuline experience with a plurality of faiths, identities, perspectives, and cultural backgrounds. The interviewees range widely in their contributions to both Ursuline and the wider world: from Rhesa Ortique McDonald ’66 and Ginger Lopez Baptiste ’66, two of the students who spearheaded the racial integration of Ursuline Academy, to the Honorable Nancy Amato Konrad ’59, first woman elected to a parishwide office and the bench in Jefferson Parish, to Christina “CQ” Quintana ’06, literary critic and playwright. Student participants shared their appreciation for the unique experience afforded by the Legacy Project. “(It) gave me the opportunity to learn more about Ursuline’s history and the diverse stories and experiences that lie at its roots,” said Freshman Faith Calagna. Sophomore Natalie Garner shared that, “the Legacy Project helped me to see that Ursuline alumnae and current students can still connect with each other - even if the Ursuline they experienced was different than the one we are experiencing now.” There are plans to make the Legacy Project archives available virtually to all past, present, and future members of the Ursuline family, as well as to the general public, in advance of the 2027 Tricentennial.