The 1959 Project originated as a mixed-methodology initiative aimed at recalling, sharing, and rethinking the evolution of the University of Michigan-Dearborn from a specialized co-op education program to an autonomous regional campus.
Utilizing oral histories, surveys, focus groups, and research in the campus archives, The 1959 Project aims to produce a more inclusive history that more fully recognizes the contributions of students, faculty, and staff to the campus.
The project includes five digital humanities initiatives, which serve as both an expanding archive for inquiry and as avenues for restorative and expanded storytelling. These efforts are designed to inform the development of future reparative policies on the campus.
Rosa Parks receives honorary doctorate at UM-Dearborn Commencement, April 28, 1991| Image courtesy of the University of Michigan-Dearborn Campus Archive
The 1959 Project: University of Michigan-Dearborn’s Origins and Timelines
Winter 2024 - present
The 1959 Project currently encompasses five digital humanities projects:
Restored Voices
This collection makes digitally curated interviews from the archives of the Mardigian Library at the University of Michigan-Dearborn available on a public database powered by the Oral History Metadata Synchronizer (OHMS) and OMEKA S. Researchers are working on the curation of archived interviews with former faculty and administrators, including William E. Stirton, the Vice Chancellor who was the first Director of the Dearborn Campus from 1959 to 1968; Dr. Helen M. Graves, a professor of political science who helped found UM-Dearborn’s Commission for Women in 1974; and former Chancellor Blenda J. Wilson, who served in that role from 1989 to 1992 and was both the first African American and first woman to lead any University of Michigan campus–indeed, the first woman to lead any public university in Michigan.
Shared Campus Lives
The Shared Campus Lives collection will feature newly recorded interviews of individuals with memories of the earliest years of the campus and key inflection points in its history. Having established both an initial list of interviewees and a process for identifying more among UM-Dearborn alumni and former faculty and staff, researchers have begun scheduling and conducting interviews.
Michigan Middle East Travelers Oral History Project (MMETOHP) Phase 2
In its first phase, the Michigan Middle East Travelers Oral History Project (MMETOHP) explored the agency of travelers in navigating “regimes of im/mobilty” to maintain contact with friends and family in the Middle East. During its second phase, MMETOHP is focusing its interviews on members of the Dearborn campus community who have traveled to the Middle East. Phase 2 will also focus on feelings of belonging to the Dearborn campus community. Researchers are currently developing a survey for staff, students, faculty, alumni, and retirees to explore these issues across all segments of the campus community and to identify potential interviewees. This multi-modal approach will add individualized nuance to our understanding of the anonymized data from the surveys.
The Timeline Project
The Timeline Project seeks to revise the official timeline of UM-Dearborn by asking for input from multiple constituencies within the campus community. Researchers will utilize survey and focus group data to create a revised timeline that links to other digital humanities resources, like StoryMaps and LibGuides, and better reflects the input of the campus community and its collective contributions to the enrichment of the institution.
Inclusive Storytelling Hub
The Inclusive Storytelling Hub (ISH) at the University of Michigan-Dearborn is developing infrastructure and resources to assist researchers in transforming their work into compelling narratives that align with the University of Michigan’s inclusivity goals. The ISH, in partnership with the Inclusive History Project and UM-Dearborn’s Office of Holistic Excellence, is currently developing approaches for public engagement and dissemination of inclusive research to local, national, and global audiences. The ISH’s initial work includes developing storytelling related to 1) oral histories that are part of the 1959 Project and 2) a project led by Dr. Martin Hershock and Dr. Jacob Napieralski, “Restoring Native Voice at the University of Michigan-Dearborn: Reimagining the Environmental Interpretive Center and Campus Natural Area,” which is supported by the IHP Research & Engagement Fund.
The 1959 Project team expects that the infrastructure for digital oral history curation that is being developed for these collections will serve as a useful repository for interviews generated by other IHP-funded projects on the Dearborn campus. Examples include the work of IHP Research & Engagement Fund awardee, Dr. Amy Brainer. Dr. Brainer’s project, “Institutional Memory and Intergenerational Solidarity: Oral Histories of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies,” is examining the history of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program on the Dearborn campus.
