Abstract:
The African American experience has always been a controversial topic throughout American
history. African Americans have fought for centuries for equal rights in employment, education,
recreation, and other everyday activities. The most important aspect, though, is in education.
Many African Americans pride education as being the basis through which future generations
will succeed and overcome oppression. By looking at it in a local aspect through the lens of the
Ball State African American experience, a more in-depth look can be obtained to identify the
struggles and the victories achieved by African American alumni. I was guided through this
project by reading Ball State University: An Interpretive History (2001) and The Other Side of
Middletown: Exploring Muncie's African American Community (2004), along with practical
research from Doing Oral History: A Practical Guide (2014) and a visit to the Smithsonian
Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.
With this guidance, I was able to conduct and transcribe two different two-hour interviews with
Cardinals of Color to gain their perspective on their Ball State experience and what challenges
and lessons helped them grow and succeed.
