The Reston Reflections Oral History Archive, which
is part of the Planned Community Archives, is a collection of interviews
of Restonians maintained by Special Collections & Archives (SC&A).
It was created by eighth-grade students at Langston Hughes Middle
School in Reston, VA, under the supervision of faculty members Ms.
Millie Mennard, Ms. Gene Zablotney, and Mr. Ross Armstrong. Dr. Sarah
Larson, a local historian, was instrumental in bringing about the
project. Every year students conduct interviews with a selection of
Reston residents, all of whom had lived in the Reston community for
at least fifteen years. The students are required to tape and transcribe
the interviews. The transcripts include a physical description of
the interviewee, background information, the interview setting and
the interview itself. The Reston Reflections Oral History Archive
gives a unique perspective on the development and history of the Reston
community.
Planned Community
Archives, Inc., is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to improving
the quality of community development in the United States. It seeks
to use its archival, research, publishing and instructional resources
to maintain the historical records of community development projects,
to prepare and disseminate information and analysis drawn form these
records, and to design and participate in interdisciplinary courses
of instruction on community development.
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PCA Finding Aid
Special Collections & Archives preserves and
makes available to all students, faculty, and researchers many kinds
of original and scholarly materials. Subject areas in SC&A include
Northern Virginiana, Planned Communities, Congressional Papers, Performing
Arts, Maps, the Civil War, and George Mason University. Formats in
SC&A include manuscripts, rare books, playbills, musical scores,
audio and videotapes, architectural drawings, photographs, and slides.