LEXINGTON PARK, Md. (Sept. 1, 2009) - Members of the St. Mary's County, Maryland, community now have access to a rich documentary, "With All Deliberate Speed: One High School's Story," about desegregation of Great Mills High School between 1958 and 1972. Thanks to Booz Allen Hamilton's Lexington Park office, 100 copies of the documentary will be hand-delivered today to local libraries, colleges, historical societies, and the St. Mary's Board of Education for distribution to local schools.
Produced by St. Mary's College of Maryland Chair of Theater, Film, and Media Studies, Merideth Taylor, this documentary is based on 18 oral histories drawn from more than 30 interviews with former teachers, administrators and students collected by Taylor with help from students and teachers at Great Mills.
Booz Allen Hamilton's Senior Consultant and Lexington Park Workforce Leadership Council African American Forum lead, Raneene James, attended the film's public screening at Great Mills High School auditorium in June. Several of Booz Allen's Lexington Park employees attended Great Mills High School and James wanted to help make the film part of the local school curriculum. She collaborated with Taylor and approached Booz Allen for funding to duplicate and distribute the film so that the broader Southern Maryland community would have access to it for educational purposes. "This project is about awareness, involvement, and having an impact on educating our community about the history of St. Mary's County," said James.
Booz Allen's Lexington Park office of more than 400 employees has a longstanding history of service to the Southern Maryland community. In February, the office received a Booz Allen Excellence Award for its community service program, which supports a variety of efforts including the annual St. Mary's County Juneteenth Celebration honoring African American heritage; Rebuilding Together's National Rebuilding Day through which volunteers repair low-income houses; Tierra Troupers that teaches students healthy eating habits and prepares them to run a 2k race; and a back-to-school supplies drive for Spring Ridge Middle School.
A grant from the PNC Foundation Legacy Project and the Maryland Humanities Council made the documentary possible. Additional support for the documentary project came from St. Mary's College in partnership with St. Mary's County Public Schools and the Unified Committee for Afro-American Contributions.
Source: Booz Allen Hamilton