Project ABC (A Better Chance) Duke University Program records, 1966 - 1971, bulk 1966-1969
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Summary
- Creator:
- Project ABC (Duke University)
- Abstract:
- Project ABC (A Better Chance) began at Dartmouth College in 1964 as a summer program to prepare academically-gifted, underprivileged, and minority students to attend independent college preparatory schools. From 1966 to 1969, Duke University operated Project ABC summer sessions for boys with the goal of easing the transition from public school to private school. Records contain reports, financial materials, and correspondence generated or maintained by Project ABC at Duke University. The bulk of the collection consists of student applications to the ABC program and prep school progress reports. Materials range in date from 1966 to 1969.
- Extent:
- 4.5 Linear Feet
- Language:
- English.
- Collection ID:
- UA.26.01.0001
- University Archives Record Group:
- 26 -- Interdisciplinary Institutes, Research Centers, and Departments
26 -- Interdisciplinary Institutes, Research Centers, and Departments > 01 -- Independent Programs
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The collection contains reports, financial materials, and correspondence generated or maintained by Project ABC at Duke University. The bulk of the collection consists of student applications to the ABC program and some progress reports from the preparatory schools the students attended after completing the program. Also included are administrative materials, budgets and planning materials, financial information and receipts indicating activities, books, and films for the students, and correspondence regarding the hiring of teachers and tutors.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Project ABC (A Better Chance) began at Dartmouth College in 1964 as a summer program to prepare academically-gifted, underprivileged, and minority students to attend independent college preparatory schools. From 1966 to 1969, Duke University operated Project ABC summer sessions for boys with the goal of easing the transition from public school to private school.
For the summer of 1966, the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), a federal agency, gave grant funding to three institutions, including Duke University, to partner with the Independent Schools Talent Search Program (ISTSP) in running Project ABC. That summer, the OEO funded an eight week program for 80 students to attend the program at Duke, along with several tutors and staff who lived on campus. In 1967, however, the OEO declined to refund the program, and administrators at Duke worked with the Ford Foundation and the Anne C. Stouffer Foundation to fund a smaller, independent version of the program, which continued for three summers. In 1967 and 1968, Duke conducted its own seven week program for 20 students, and in 1969, the final year of the program at Duke, the session was shortened to six weeks.
The director of the ABC program at Duke for 1966 and 1967 was Robert T. Simpson, and Keener Smathers for 1968 and 1969. Teachers for the summer program were hired by the director from outside schools, and several tutors were also hired, usually Duke students. In the 1967, 1968, and 1969 sessions, two students from the previous year's program were hired as student assistants. Student assistants and tutors usually lived in the dormitories near the students, while teachers, who often brought their families, often lived in graduate student housing.
After completing the program, students attended a variety of preparatory schools throughout the South. During the 1966-1967 academic year, most schools sent the ABC program director updates on the students' academic and personal progress.
- Acquisition information:
- The Project ABC (A Better Chance) Duke University Program Records were received by the University Archives as a transfer in 1971.
- Processing information:
-
Encoded by Jill Katte, January 2005.
Collection processed and new finding aid created by Tracy M. Jackson, November 2018.
- Arrangement:
-
Materials have been grouped into administrative materials, accounts and financial materials, personnel-related materials, reports, and student records; materials within these categories have been arranged chronologically.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Subjects
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Contents
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- Restrictions:
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In accordance with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 as amended, Duke University permits students to inspect their education records and limits the disclosure of personally identifiable information from education records.
Records, such as search committee files or others pertaining to employment where individuals are identified, are closed for 70 years.
- Terms of access:
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Copyright for Official University records is held by Duke University; all other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
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- Preferred citation:
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[Identification of item], Project ABC (A Better Chance) Duke University Program Records, Duke University Archives, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.