#BigClassBestTen: History Between These Folds

In the 2016-2017 school year, 100 11th graders in Eric Parrie’s US History class at Carver High School collaborated with Big Class and acclaimed writer Kiese Laymon to write a book of their own personal histories.

History Between These Folds is a collection on family, neighborhood, identity, and New Orleans–reconfiguring how we think about ourselves in relationship to broader sweeps of history.

“If every American book published in 2017 were written by eleventh graders in New Orleans, the world would be more loving.”
–Kiese Laymon

On May 23rd, 2017, we marked the release of History Between These Folds with a publication party at Cafe Istanbul.

Families, friends, and community members came together in support of New Orleanian youth and their writing.

On December 12th, 2017, we came back together with four of the book’s authors and Kiese Laymon at G.W. Carver High School for a special reading and conversation.

Four authors—Ashley, Octavia, Paris, and Tiarra—read their pieces from History Between These Folds and then sat down to discuss the book, New Orleans, and the future.

You can learn more about this special project, watch a promotional video, and hear audio of the December 12th reading and conversation here.