During a recent class at Central Piedmont Community College on "Crafting Characters that Connect" I brought Joyce Hostetter into the classroom via this wonderful tool, a Microsoft RoundTable camera.
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| Photograph courtesy Saad Khan |
The students enjoyed interacting with Joyce as she answered questions about character development, staying focused as a writer, and receiving critiques.
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| Photograph courtesy Saad Khan |
A week later, I spent time researching for Half-Truths in the Carolina Room at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Public Library. Hours sped by as I looked through the Charlotte News (Charlotte's afternoon paper) and the State of Zion (the weekly newspaper of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion church) from 1950 on this machine:
A teenager walked by and asked me what it was. Microfilm machines aren't new technology, but they're helpful for reading old newspapers and magazines to gain an understanding of a time period. Unfortunately, they don't have "search" functions and this type of research feels very similar to sifting through sand to find treasure.
But the real treasure that I found was this book:
The Charlotte City Directory for 1950 provided such interesting details as the names of the jailer and sheriff as well as a list of area dentists. I found a listing for the Coca-Cola company that will play a small role in my book. Each page was packed with information.
Not only were people listed with their phone numbers, but there were also street listings that included an assortment of information. A small icon of a telephone indicated whether or not an individual had a phone, a "r" showed that the person lived in the rear of the building, occupations such as maid, cook, lawyer, or company president were listed, and a c with a circle around it stood for "colored."
Technology carries us forward providing many new educational possibilities. But history provides a great many lessons too.
