About The Oral History Guy

Hello All,

In my hometown, there has traditionally been a modicum of research concerning African American students’ educational experience in the Jim Crow and post-Brown v. Board era. Therefore, I decided to explore the stories of black students educated during those times. A grant award from the National Endowment for the Humanities allowed me to organize the Middle Tennessee African American Oral History Project. Its goal was to assemble and preserve a vast collection of local African American history via various interviews chronicling the lives and diverse experiences of Black Americans who worked, resided, or were educated in Middle Tennessee during legal segregation through the implementation of integration. I explored their family lives, the communities in which they lived, their educational experiences, and their relationships with democracy. The archive also serves as a permanent celebration of African American families, communities, and achievements in Middle Tennessee.

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My name is Jason R. McGowan. I  earned my B.A. in English and M.A. in Liberal Arts from Middle Tennessee State University, where I am an Oral Historian for the Albert Gore Research Center.