HIGH POINT, N.C., May 28, 2015 – High Point University graduate Quinn Hagen, a native of Pennington, New Jersey, helped history come to life through her creative work on the William Penn Project, an effort to document the history of a historic African-American high school. By managing many of the audio-visual aspects of the project, she has helped community members access treasured artifacts and stories from the school’s past.
Hagen, who recently graduated from HPU with a bachelor’s in history, became involved in the William Penn Project while taking a service learning course. She and her classmates conducted interviews, created videos and gathered photos from the school’s graduates. Thanks to Hagen’s help, these artifacts are accessible through a special website for the project.
Hagen created short videos highlighting various aspects of day-to-day life for students at the school, which she presented at the High Point University Research and Creativity Symposium as well as the Big South Undergraduate Research Symposium. She also provided technical assistance on the website and Facebook page, and she edited all of the audio recordings and pictures from the project.
Hagen says her work on the project gave her new insight into the study of historical places.
“The William Penn Project has helped me realize that history can be researched and displayed through outlets other than just a typical paper,” says Hagen. “I’m honored to be a part of preserving the history of what it was like to be a black high school student in the 1960s.”
Hagen will continue technical work on the project this summer. She plans to pursue a career in teaching.