Advanced Reporting Class Looks Back at Life in 1964

Students report on a historic year

What was life like half a century ago in 1964?  That’s what 15 University students are exploring this semester as their project in their Advanced Reporting Class taught by Tina Lesher, professor of communication.

As part of the project, titled “Eye on ’64,” students are studying and reporting on what happened in a year that included a presidential election, the passage of the Civil Rights Act, the World’s Fair in New York, and the Beatles first trip to the United States.  Articles span a variety of topics, including what life was like for a college student, marriage, and other topics in entertainment and sports. An article about President Kathleen Waldron, who visited the class and spoke to the students, is among those featured on the website

For Lesher, the project is personal, as she is retiring at the end of this semester.  "The project turned out to be better than expected. It gave the students a chance to study an important part of history—more important than any of us realized—and to strengthen their reportorial skills. I got the idea for it when I realized that it was 50 years ago that I was a college senior and this is my final semester." An article by Lesher about her senior year in college is included as part of the project.

Senior Amir Ismael, a print journalism major, has contributed several articles, including one about an African American marine and his experiences as the U.S. became involved in the Vietnam War that year.  “I really like the project because everyone was able to find a topic that interested them,” he says.

Articles developed as part of the project can be viewed on a website, eyeon64.com, designed by communication graduate student Jaclyn Antonacci ’16.  The website also includes images of the William Paterson campus in 1964, as well as selected issues of the student newspaper, The Beacon.