The following interviews were conducted between 2008 and 2016 with the former students of Martha Olson.

Thirty-six years later, Olson and a team contacted the principal of Marion County High School, Toxie Abram, who was also a member of the class of ‘72. Given a cross-section of photographs from the collection, Abram recognized many of the students as his classmates, identifying at least nineteen of these former students who were still living in Columbia, Mississippi.

With some luck, they arranged interviews and re-photographed the very same students. The interviews focused on their life stories, including the recollection of experiences during the integration period, its impact on their subsequent lives, and how they viewed growing up in Mississippi.

Martha Olson wishes to thank the talented videographer who contributed to the interviews by videotaping them, as well as the photographer who contributed to the rephotographs taken between 2008-2015.