Sheryl Oring at her typewriter, collecting messages from Americans "to the next president."
Remember Sheryl Oring? In the spring of 2008 she was wandering the nation with her typewriter and portable table in tow, typing out postcards to “the next president” from people she found in public spaces willing to share their hopes for the next presidential administration.
Five weeks away from the inauguration of Barack Obama, I wonder what Oring’s postcards could tell us? Where is she now?
Check out her website, I Wish to Say. Maybe your classroom could support a similar project from your students. What do these cards tell us about Americans? What do they tell us about our electoral process? What do they tell us about our hopes and fears? DBQ, anyone?
Two of several hundred postcards from Americans, collected by Sheryl Oring (and typed by her) to send to "the next president" -- who we now know will be Barack Obama.
Many of the postcards will be on display through January 25, 2009, at the McCormick Foundation‘s Freedom Museum in Chicago. Admission is free.
In comments, tell us what you would have told Oring to put on a postcard from you.
Resources:
- Los Angeles Times story on Oring’s project, from November, and another from April 2008
- Coverage from La Stampa (Italy)
- ABC News Person of the Week (September 2004) (she’s been doing this for a while; perhaps Obama will listen more closely)
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 
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