Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Due to privacy concerns, only given names are provided for student interviewers. Full student names, appearing on release forms signed by the students, will be restricted for 10 years after the receipt of the collection. Release forms are restricted to staff use during this time. A staff-only index is available to locate interviews by student name.

Use Restrictions

No physical characteristics affect use of this material.

Preferred Citation

J.L. Simpson Middle School 7th Grade Oral History Collection , 2016- (M 0123), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

Acquisition Information

J.L. Simpson Middle School, Leesburg, VA

Alternative Form Available

None

Accruals

2016.0072

Processing Information

Processed by Laura Christiansen, Index by Renee Harkness-Shanahan, 2016

Historical Information

Completed and dedicated in 1976, J.L. Simpson Middle School finalized implementation of middle schools throughout Loudoun County. Prior to the 1971-1972 school years, Loudoun students attended elementary school through grade 7 and then advanced to high school. In 1971, Loudoun opened Blue Ridge Middle School in Purcellville and Sterling Middle School, both accommodating grades 6-8. At that time, the former Douglass High School building was renamed Leesburg Middle school and students in grades 6-7 from Leesburg, Luckett's, and Middleburg attended school there. The construction of J.L. Simpson Middle School in Leesburg replaced Leesburg Middle School and permanently established the 6-8 grade middle school concept in Loudoun County Public Schools.

J.L. Simpson Middle School is named for J. Lupton Simpson (1903-1967) a Loudoun county educator with a career spanning 39 years. Born in Fayetteville, NC, Simpson's family moved to Loudoun County in 1905. As a young boy, Simpson developed infantile paralysis and was unable to attend elementary school. Tutored privately, he was able to attend and graduate from Lucketts High School before going to Hampden-Sydney College. Simpson served as an educator and as principal in communities throughout Loudoun. Simpson retired as Assistant Principle of Loudoun County High School in 1965.

Scope and Content

The collection consists of typed transcripts of oral history interviews and reports compiled by students at J. Lupton Simpson Middles School. Instructed to select an individual to interview about a specific event in history that the subject experienced, seventh grade students were required to write a report to accompany the transcript of their interview. Interviews cover a wide range of local, national, and international events in the 20th and 21st centuries. Conducted as part of the Social Science curriculum, student interviewers were expected to follow best practices for oral histories and to obtain signed releases from their subjects. Releases were not obtained for all interviews. The collection is arranged topically, with historical events identified as they were categorized by the students. Within each topic, interviews have been alphabetically arranged by interview subject's name. Names of interview subjects are recorded as provided by the student. Information that would further identify interview subjects, such as birth dates or addresses, has not been included due to privacy concerns. Student interviewers are identified only by given name. Inaugurated in June 2016, this project may be added to by future 7th grade classes at Simpson Middle School

Related Material

Student Oral History Collection (M 008)

Adjunct Descriptive Data

Bibliography

J.L. Simpson Middle School Website, http://www.loudoun.k12.va.us/jlsms, accessed 19 July 2016.

J.L. Simpson Middle School 7th Grade, Oral History Project (M 0123), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

Other Finding Aid

Index of interview subjects and topics accompanies collection. Releases and an index including full name of interviewers are restricted and available for staff use only.

Technical Requirements

None