Tell Us Your Story!

J. Y. Joyner Library is working with East Carolina University’s Centennial Task Force to prepare an oral history of first-generation graduates of the University. Twenty interviews will be conducted this spring and early summer with alumni who were the first members of their families to graduate from college. Interviewees will be selected from the following time periods: pre-1945; 1946-1965; 1966-1985; 1986-2005. An effort will be made to select interviewees who represent the spectrum of students on campus during each time period. Trained interviewers will ask alumni to discuss their family background, home community, college experience, and the impact their education has had on their lives. The interviews will be made available for scholarly research at Joyner Library’s Special Collections Department and through the web site of the University Archives, and a public program will be held in 2009 to showcase the results of the project. The interviewees will be asked to sign a release form so that their stories will be accessible to the public.

We need your help! If you are a first-generation graduate of East Carolina (or know alumni who are), then we want to hear from you. Please send a brief statement about your experience at East Carolina to Maury York, Assistant Director for Special Collections, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858 by April 1, 2008. E-mail messages may be directed to yorkm@ecu.edu. Please include your contact information. If you are selected to participate in the project, you will be notified soon after April 1. For more information, please contact Mr. York at 252- 328-0252.