Engaging the Wisdom

The Engaging the Wisdom program, a component of the Racial Healing Initiative of the Society for History and Racial Equity, is an interracial, inter-generational program that will explore new and creative ways for youth and elders to connect. Program goals are to (a) engage students in meaningful activities that will engender greater respect for elders in the community, (b) build bridges across generations and ethnicities, (c) involve students in oral history projects that will increase their knowledge of the history of the community.

As part of the Engaging the Wisdom project, SHARE has collaborated in an oral history project with Dr. Bruce Mills and his English Seminar class, Building the Archive: Baldwin and His Legacy at Kalamazoo College.

History, as nearly no one seems to know, is not merely something to be read. And it does not refer merely, or even principally, to the past. On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it in many ways, and history is literally present in all that we do. It could scarcely be otherwise, since it is to history that we owe our frames of reference, our identities, and our aspirations. (James Baldwin)

In February of 1960, James Baldwin delivered an address, “In Search of a Majority,” at Stetson Chapel at Kalamazoo College which he later included in his collection of essays, Nobody Knows My Name. The Baldwin and His Legacy seminar approached Baldwin’s visit and writings as a site of analysis. As an actual event, the occasion left a record (correspondence, publicity, newspaper accounts, published essay). Through a close reading of Baldwin and his milieu, the course invited students to engage critically in what we carry within us. To deepen their understanding of Baldwin and the period, they researched in the Kalamazoo College Archives and students were trained by SHARE to conduct interviews of people involved in Kalamazoo community initiatives during the civil rights era.

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Interview with Dr. Lisa Brock, Part 1

Dr. Lisa Brock

Part 1 of two part interview with Dr. Lisa Brock. Dr. Brock is interviewed by Kalamazoo College student Buffy Satchwell for the Engaging the Wisdom oral history series.
Interview with Dr. Lisa Brock, Part 2

Dr. Lisa Brock

Part 2 of two part interview with Dr. Lisa Brock. Dr. Brock is interviewed by Kalamazoo College student Buffy Satchwell for the Engaging the Wisdom oral history project.
Interview with John Chamberlin, Part 1

John Chamberlin

Part 1 of two part interview with John Chamberlin. Mr. Chamberlin is interviewed by Kalamazoo College student Melissa Acosta for the Engaging the Wisdom oral history project.
Interview with John Chamberlin, Pt. 2

John Chamberlin

Part 2 of two interviews with John Chamberlin. Mr. Chamberlin is interviewed by Kalamazoo College student Melissa Acosta for the Engaging the Wisdom oral history project.
Interview with Beverly Coleman Part 1

Beverly Coleman

Part 1 of two part interview with Beverly Coleman. Ms. Coleman is interviewed by Kalamazoo College student Kate Ballew for the Engaging the Wisdom oral history project.
Interview with Beverly Coleman Part 2

Beverly Coleman

Part 2 of two part interview with Beverly Coleman. Ms. Coleman was interviewed by Kalamazoo College student Kate Ballew for the Engaging the Wisdom oral history project.
Interview with Byron Foster, Part 1

Byron Foster

Part 1 of two part interview with Mr. Byron Foster. Mr. Foster is interviewed at Kalamazoo College for the Engaging the Wisdom oral history project.
Interview with Byron Foster, Part 2

Byron Foster

Part 2 of two part interview with Mr. Byron Foster. Kalamazoo College student Hannah Bogard interviews Mr. Foster for the Engaging the Wisdom oral history series.
Interview with Buddy Hannah, Part 1

Buddy Hannah

Part 1 of a two part interview with Buddy Hannah. Conducted by Kalamazoo College student Jenny Tarnoff for the Engaging the Wisdom oral history project in 2013.
Interview with Buddy Hannah, Part 2

Buddy Hannah

Part 2 of two interviews with Buddy Hannah. Mr. Hannah was interviewed as part of the Engaging the Wisdom oral history project.
Interview with Dean Karen Joshua-Walthel, Part 1

Karen Joshua-Walthel

Part 1 of two part interview with Dean Karen Joshua-Wathel. Dean Joshua-Wathel is interviewed by Kalamazoo College student Alex Norman for the Engaging the Wisdom oral history project.
Interview with Dean Karen Joshua-Walthel, Part 2

Karen Joshua-Walthel

Part 2 of two part interview with Dean Karen Joshua-Wathel. Dean Joshua-Wathel is interviewed by Alexandra Norman, Kalamazoo College student, for the Engaging the Wisdom
Interview with Mollie Peterson, Part 1

Mollie Peterson

Part 1 of two part interview with Mollie Peterson. Ms. Mollie Peterson was interviewed by Kalamazoo College student Anya Opshinsky as part of the Engaging the Wisdom oral history project.
Interview with Mollie Peterson, Part 2

Mollie Peterson

Part 2 of two part interview with Mollie Peterson. Ms.Peterson is interviewed by Kalamazoo College student Anya Opshinsky as part of the Engaging the Wisdom oral history project.
Interview with Phyllis Seabolt, Part 1

Phyllis Seabolt

Part 1 of two part interview with Phyllis Seabolt. Ms. Seabolt is interviewed by Kalamazoo College student Chandler Smith for the Engaging the Wisdom oral history project.
Interview with Phyllis Seabolt, Part 2

Phyllis Seabolt

Part 2 of two interviews with Phyllis Seabolt. Mrs. Seabolt was interviewed by Kalamazoo College student Chandler Smith for the Engaging the Wisdom oral history project.
Interview with Caldin Street, Part 2

Caldin Street

Part 2 of two interviews with Ms. Caldin Street. Interview was conducted by Kalamazoo College Student Craig Isser as part of the Engaging the Wisdom oral history project.
Interview with Dr. Lewis Walker, Part 1

Dr. Lewis Walker

Part 1 of two part interview with Dr. Lewis Walker. Dr. Walker is interviewed by Kalamazoo College student Katherine Rapin for the Engaging the Wisdom oral history project.
Interview with Dr. Lewis Walker, Part 2

Dr. Lewis Walker

Part 2 of two interviews with Dr. Lewis Walker. Dr. Walker is interviewed by Kalamazoo College student Katherine Rapin for the Engaging the Wisdom oral history project.
Interview with Dr. Charles Warfield, Part 1

Dr. Charles Warfield

Part 1 of two of interviews with Dr. Charles Warfield. Dr. Warfield is interviewed by Kalamazoo College student Sierra Moore for the Engaging the Wisdom oral history project on February 11, 2013.
Interview with Dr. Charles Warfield, Part 2

Dr. Charles Warfield

Part 2 of two interviews with Dr. Charles Warfield. Dr. Warfield is interviewed by Kalamazoo College student Sierra Moore for the Engaging the Wisdom oral history project.
Interview with Dr. Martha Warfield, Part 1

Dr. Martha Warfield

Part 1 of two part interview with Dr. Martha Warfield. Kalamazoo College student Anita Ghans interviews Dr. Warfield for the Engaging the Wisdom oral history series.
Interview with Dr. Martha Warfield, Part 2

Dr. Martha Warfield

Part 2 of two of interview with Dr. Martha Warfield. Kalamazoo College student Anita Ghans interviews Dr. Warfield as part of the Engaging the Wisdom oral history series.
Interview with Dr. Von Washington, Part 1

Dr. Von Washington Sr.

Part 1 of two part interview with Dr. Von Washington Sr. Dr. Washington is interviewed by Kalamazoo College student Scott Brent for the Engaging the Wisdom oral history project.
Interview with Dr. Von Washington Sr., Part 2

Dr. Von Washington Sr.

Part 2 of two part interview with Dr. Von Washington Sr. Dr. Washington is interviewed by Kalamazoo College Student Scott Brent for the Engaging the Wisdom oral history project.