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JP Sloop

Dr. Carter

Research Proposal

“Town and Gown” / Ivory Moore

For my research project, I would like to look at Ivory Moore’s “Town and

Gown” article that ran in the local Commerce newspaper and attempt to establish a

link between the events that Moore reported on and the social initiatives by local

organizations of the time like the Norris Community Club. I hope to show that

Moore’s “Town and Gown” column as a literacy act / event was an act of social

change important to the improvement of the Norris Community and its citizens.

I hope to accomplish a lot from this research, but I am also aware of the time

constraints involved. Realistically I would be pleased if I could establish a trail for

further research. I want to at least be able to read through all of Ivory Moore’s

“Town and Gown” articles and code them according to particular social events

discussed in the column. Eventually and if time permits I would like to look at the

connections between Moore’s column and the Norris Community Club and other

organizations that worked within the Norris community to establish basic

accommodations for its citizens.

I see this research as working to establish one of the many ways in which a

local African-American community worked to gain resources and independence for

their community. My research question / assumption is based on finding patterns in

Moore’s column. Based on local interviews and panels I know that establishing basic

rights for the Norris community was of upmost importance in the 60-70’s. My hunch

is that Moore used his column as a means to promote the causes being fought by

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the community at large.

Most of my research will be conducted through archival research since I am

attempting to do the initial coding of Moore’s column. I will also use some of the

archival interviews with Ivory Moore and other Norris Community citizens in order to

situate my arguments as well as establish categories for the coding process. It

seems that archival research is the best approach for this project because all of the

articles are archived and I am attempting to establish a base for further study. As I

mention in my research statement I am hoping to show that the column use as a

sociopolitical mechanism was also an act of using the available literacies. During

the time frame of Moore’s article the newspaper would have been the most widely

circulated and most readily accessible form of information. Moore’s ability to utilize

this medium seems to constitute both literacy on his part as well as a literacy event

for the community in general.