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MLK-USCT COMMON GROUND INITIATIVE 2002

Mentoring Initiative for Select High Schools

United States Colored Troops Institute

Hartwick College

Oneonta, New York 13820

December 14, 2001

Dear Colleagues:

I am pleased to extend to you an invitation for your high school or academic program to participate in Hartwick College’s MLK-USCT Common Ground Initiative for 2002. Hartwick’s Initiative is one of three projects in New York State which is officially recognized by the federal government’s Corporation for National and Common Service to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on his birthday with a day of service. The Initiative remembers Dr. King through community service, mentoring, and heritage studies. Approximately 10 high schools and academic programs are being asked to each organize 30 students to interview participants of the modern Civil Rights Movement on Monday, January 21, 2002. Upon completion, each high school/academic program and student will be provided with a personalized certificate of participation.

The students can interview family members, neighbors, and/or any other persons who were eyewitnesses to the events of the 1950s through the 1970s. If preferred, a teacher may engage the same number of students in an experiential project that introduces the students to the earlier Freedom Journey resulting in the ending of slavery.

Please find attached below a complete description of Hartwick College’s MLK-USCT Common Ground Initiative. Also provided at the USCT Institute's web site are 1) the Application Form; 2) Civil Rights Activist Questionnaire; and 3) the Student Interviewer’s Reactions sheet. The application should be completed and returned to me by January 15, 2002. The other two forms are to be duplicated for usage by your students who conduct the interviewing of Civil Rights participants. Once your project is over, please forward to me copies of the completed forms. Certificates of participation will be forwarded to you or the contact person listed on your application.

You should feel free to contact me regarding this promising project. I can be reached at 607-431-4428, or by e-mail at [log in to unmask]. I also invite you to view the registration forms at the web site of the USCT Institute for Local History and Family Research at http://www.hartwick.edu/usct/symposm.htm

I look forward to receiving your positive response to this effort to honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the millions who devoted their lives to the Freedom Journey of African Americans.

Sincerely

Harry Bradshaw Matthews

President and Senior Fellow

USCT Institute

[Associate Dean, Hartwick College]