This project was a collaboration of an anthropology class at Mount Holyoke College (Anthr 275: Doing Ethnography) and the South Hadley Historical Society in the spring of 2007. Special thanks go to Robert Judge and Theodore Belskey of the historical society for their help developing and organizing this project.
Students were assigned mostly in pairs to conduct interviews in March 2007 in the old high school building, currently used exclusively as town hall. Thanks go to Patricia Vinchesi and other South Hadley city officials for accommodating requests to use their space. Full transcribed interviews are deposited in the archives of the South Hadley Historical Society, as well as the complete digital audio files. During the course of interviewing, local newspapers covered the project.
Literature Review
There is a large amount of anthropological literature centering on some aspect of schooling. Several books have been written about the social systems present within American High Schools. Most studies focus on a participant observation method within high schools themselves, rather than reconstruction of the past, but provide valuable material about the process of identity creation in high schools. However, there are also a number of studies which deal with some element of past school experiences, and contain some valuable analysis of memory and considerations involved in doing research on past experiences.
Click here for one student’s review of anthropological literature about high schools.
Transcripts of Interviews
Archives
Members of the South Hadley Historical Society provided us with newspaper articles and photographs covering the initial construction on the old high school building in 1913, as well as the new building in 1956.
