The voice traveled from the TV across the living room, narrating in its polished, deliberate tone the movements of armies locked in battle. Maps and photographs flickered across the screen, captivating young Sarah McCarthy ’29.
“My mom and my sister are major history buffs,” says McCarthy. “We were constantly at museums or reading historical books or doing different things like that.”
The sights and sounds of history were more than background. They nurtured McCarthy’s curiosity and instilled in her the importance of preserving stories for future generations to see and hear.
This summer, she’s had the chance to record history herself through her internship with the Trinity University Tennis Oral History Project. The ongoing work, led by Trinity graduate Betsy Gerhardt Pasley ’77 and History Professor Lauren Turek, Ph.D., seeks to research the experiences of players and coaches in the tennis program from the 1960s to the 1970s.
College tennis battles might be a different type of history than she was used to, but she found it interesting all the same. As an intern, McCarthy practices the fundamentals of archival work, spending her time going through different databases, taking note of any mention of the Trinity tennis team during those years, and organizing those findings.
“There is some data that relates to this project, but it is a mess to sort through,” she says. “I’ve had to find a way to make it cohesive.”
This process was especially challenging when McCarthy began looking at a database called On Trinity Hill. Though organized, the database included data from each day of the year, meaning there were countless records to sift through. After spending hours just with the year 1970, she realized how time-consuming it was going to be.
To be more efficient in gathering information, she talked it over with her supervisors and decided to shift her focus to different databases. This allowed her to collect data in the most productive way possible.
Despite these obstacles, McCarthy recognizes the importance of her work. The contributions and legacy of each individual could easily be lost if not properly organized, and knowing this has strengthened her commitment to the project.
McCarthy has become more and more familiar with the tennis team as she continues to research, much like how she used to immerse herself in historical books and documentaries as a child. This practice is preparing her to conduct interviews with the players and coaches this fall semester.
After dedicating so much time to gathering background information, McCarthy is looking forward to this next stage of the project.
“I've been seeing the names of this person who won this championship or this person who went to Wimbledon,” she says. “The fact that I'm going to actually meet these people and put a name to a face is really cool.”
McCarthy is also excited about how the interviews will benefit her both as a Trinity student and in her career. Pursuing a major in marketing and minors in sport management and communication, she appreciates the opportunity to become more confident and articulate.
“I'm going to talk to all these people and be put in this space where I have to make and keep the conversation going,” McCarthy says.
McCarthy will stay with the project during the rest of her time at Trinity, though the steps after completing the interviews are more uncertain.
“We're really just kind of figuring it out as we go, depending on how much information we get and how much interest we get with this project,” she says.
Yet, regardless of the final product, McCarthy knows she will enjoy her role in it for the next few years. She has already found value in listening to people’s stories and preserving them for others to hear.
Editor's Notes: In the above image, McCarthy (middle) and her family visit the Chalmette Battlefield and National Cemetery Visitor Center in Louisiana, famous for being the site of the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812.