To Kill a Mockingbird is an American classic that has touched the hearts of readers across different generations. Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel beautifully narrates the journey of Scout Finch, a girl who gains insights into courage, empathy and compassion through firsthand experiences of injustice and prejudice.
The previous owner of this book, a middle school student in the 1980s, attributes her passion for writing to the exposure she had to books like this one, that she has carried with her throughout her life. She believes that these books played a role in shaping her voice and expanding her understanding of the world around her.
Reading and writing hold significance as they open doors to possibilities and enable us to share our stories with others. By nurturing a love for these activities we can contribute towards building a more compassionate society.
Listen to this contributor’s story in her own words:
This object is part of the “Expanding Worldview” section of the Artifacts of Experience exhibition designed by University of Cincinnati students in the “Introduction to Public History” course in 2023.
We encourage you to explore the other objects in our collection.
Transcript
Hugh Shaughnessy [HS]: What object did you choose for this exhibit?
Anonymous [Anon]: I chose a book, and the book is To Kill a Mockingbird.
[HS]: What age do you think you were when you had this object or received it?
[Anon]: Probably seventh or eighth grade.
[HS]: Around that time, specifically referring to that age, do you think it affected you more on an academic side or more of a personal side, or a mix of both?
[Anon]: I think more personally. I was always an avid reader, but this is the first book that I clearly remember tackling some of the big issues around race, bravery, and taking a stand. It had a personal impact on me, thinking about people standing up for what they believe.
[HS]: Moving forward, do you think To Kill a Mockingbird specifically, or more broadly, your love of reading, affected your profession going into college, your major, and your additional education outside of college?
[Anon]: Oh, absolutely. My love of reading, for sure. I still read probably a book a week. My choice in college was to go for a liberal arts education, which was all about reading, analyzing, and writing. And now as a professor and brand strategist at an advertising agency, word choice and writing clarity are critical to my job. Those are all things I think I learned from reading.
[HS]: Specifically, in your higher education in college or beyond, how do you think reading generally affected the way that you learned, not just class structure? Do you think you were more of a reader type or writer type in that sort of scenario?
[Anon]: Let’s see. I think I’m a reader type to take information in, but I clarify my thinking through writing, if that makes sense.
[HS]: Yes, it does, at least.
[Anon]: And I also think that being an avid reader impacted my education as a whole person, in that I think reading brings out a ton of empathy. You see other people’s points of view through their writing, through the characters that are developed. That would be directly attributable to something like To Kill a Mockingbird, where you see things differently after you read the book than before.
[HS]: Let’s see. So building off specifically To Kill a Mockingbird, if we want to go back a little bit to your sort of younger education days, middle school and high school, do you think those types of books, specifically ones that you know, mentioned controversial topics such as, you know, discrimination, especially back in the 1980s, were more important than, you know, say more education in different sorts of aspects like STEM and science and stuff like that? And do you think it was focused on enough during your education days?
[Anon]: Yeah, I think it’s really hard to say what’s more or less important in terms of an education. I think I would say that whether you’re STEM or humanities, understanding other people and people’s perspectives, biases, and all those sorts of things is really, really important in terms of how it impacted me becoming a good writer. That might be less necessary for some people, depending on what field you’re in. I’m not sure if I’m totally answering the question, but I think for anyone’s education, it’s really important to raise issues about what it means to be human, what it means to be a good person, and what it means to be a citizen, even if there’s no consensus on those things. I think having the discussions and thinking about them are really important, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s more or less important than a STEM subject or learning a language or anything like that. I wouldn’t compare things; I would just say that I think it’s really important.
[HS]: I do see what you mean, yeah. Alright. Well thank you very much for answering my few questions and giving me your insight on your education, your object, and its significance to you. This is pretty much really all I need for the interview portion. So thank you very much.
[Anon]: It was my pleasure, and I would be happy to answer anything else if anything else comes up. And then, then I’ll look for the paperwork as well.
[HS]: Yep, I will be sure to send that to you. And once again, I actually I will be here next weekend if you have any questions you’d like to ask.