Scope of Work_20210421_w-option.doc

SCOPE OF WORK

MEDGAR AND MYRLIE EVERS HOME NATIONAL MONUMNET

ORAL HISTORY COLLECTION

SCOPE

In accordance with the terms and conditions of the Contract, the Contractor shall perform the work of this award for the National Park Service (NPS) as described below.

CONFIDENTIALITY

The information developed under this award is the property of the U.S. government and shall be kept in strict confidence.

PERFORMANCE PERIOD

The work shall begin following the issuance of the award and will proceed in accordance with the schedule for submittals.

INTRODUCTION

This scope of services directs the contractor to conduct research to identify and inventory existing oral history interviews dealing with the events being commemorated at the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument (MEMY), in available archives. Based on this research, Contractor, in consultation with NPS staff, will identify approximately ten individuals with whom to conduct additional oral history interviews and arrange to conduct said interviews. Among the interviews will be one with Myrlie Evers and approximately seven residents of the Elraine neighborhood in Jackson, MS, where the park is located. Interviews will be video recorded.

The Contractor shall provide all materials, supplies, labor, supervision, coordination, and management necessary to complete the work as specified in this scope of services.

POINTS OF CONTACT:

Contractual: Contracting Officer (CO): Celinda Hicks, celinda_hicks@nps.gov Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) and Project Manager: Cesar A. Vasquez, 850 879 7931 cesar_vasquez@nps.gov Park Contact: TBD

PURPOSE

The purpose of this project is to produce approximately ten oral history interviews detailing the background of the events being commemorated at MEMY. The oral history interviews are to include Myrlie Evers (currently residing in California) and other individuals with knowledge of the Elraine neighborhood (in Jackson, MS) when the Evers family lived there, including, but not limited to the events surrounding the assassination of Medgar Evers. The interviews will be audio and video recorded and will be transcribed.

The project will include an optional component to add an additional set of interviews with individuals who helped with the establishment of MEMY depending on future funding.

Background

Shortly after midnight on June 12, 1963, civil rights activist Medgar Evers was assassinated in the carport of the home that he shared with his wife Myrlie Evers and their three young children in Jackson, Mississippi. His death, the first murder of a nationally significant leader of the American Civil Rights Movement, heightened public awareness of civil rights issues and became a catalyst for passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Medgar and Myrlie Evers were partners in the civil rights struggle. Named the first field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Mississippi in 1955, Medgar Evers was the public face of the organization. He helped African Americans register to vote, promoted school desegregation, and investigated racially motivated murders.

Myrlie Evers worked behind the scenes, running the NAACP field office and providing personal and logistical support for her husband and other civil rights workers. Their efforts came at a time when white supremacists—state and local governments as well as individuals—used methods ranging from economic intimidation to lynching in order to punish those who challenged segregation, and advocated for political and social rights.

The Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home links the couple’s work to a tangible place. Civil rights work was all-consuming, and the house was an extension of the NAACP office. The couple hosted civil rights workers, sheltered African Americans threatened by white supremacists, endured death threats that arrived by telephone and mail, and lived with constant danger even as they raised three children.

Built in 1956, the house is in Jackson’s Elraine Subdivision, the first post-World War II subdivision created for middle-class African Americans in Mississippi. The very design of the house where a sniper murdered Medgar Evers tells a powerful story of the dangers that the civil rights couple faced and the efforts they made to protect their family. To enhance security, the couple chose to forego a front door in favor of a side entrance sheltered by a carport. They placed furniture in front of windows to block gunfire in case of an attack. The entire Evers family was prepared for the possibility of violence, and Evers taught his children how to crawl infantry-style on the floor to the bathroom if they heard strange noises.

Scope of Work

The contractor shall undertake and administer all necessary functions to accomplish the following:

· Conduct research to take inventory of relevant existing oral history interviews in accessible archives.

· Using this information gathered above, the contractor will identify approximately ten individuals with whom to conduct oral history interviews regarding the events being commemorated at MEMY. One of these individuals will be Ms Myrlie Evers.

· Contractor will contact the selected individuals and conduct oral history interviews which will be both audio and video recorded and later transcribed.

Research Sites

Research will be done in selected archives of known or presumed relevance that are readily accessible without extensive travel and that promise expeditious extraction of relevant data. Findings will be presented in no greater detail than required by this scope of work. Likewise, interviews will be conducted in locations that are readily accessible without extensive travel with the exception of an interview of Myrlie Evers for which travel to California will be presumed necessary.

Products and Format

NPS approved release forms will be signed by all interviewees/interviewers prior to conducting interviewers. All interviews will be transcribed, and said transcripts will be transferred to NPS along with original recordings and release forms.

All research notes made during production of this project will be turned over to the NPS. Excluded from the research notes that will be provided to the NPS will be copies of either photographs or documents for which another institution either holds the copyright for or has placed restrictions on its distribution. The researcher/s’ final draft, including all photographs, maps, etc. shall become the intellectual property of the NPS.

The deliverables will include brief a summary report outlining the interviews that were conducted and including a brief summary of each specifying dates times and any special circumstances encountered during the interviews. There will be a separate bibliography and a list of repositories which include relevant existing oral histories that were identified in the initial research as noted above.

Front matter will include a table of contents, list of illustrations (if any), and executive summary.

The researcher/s will deliver the final version of the summary report as an electronic file or files (in Microsoft Word and/or Adobe Acrobat as requested). The final format of the document will be agreed upon between the PI and NPS. All illustrations used in the final document will be credited. If any of the illustrations carry restrictions (such as one-time use limitations), the researcher/s will provide this information to the NPS. The electronic file(s) supplied to NPS will be adequate for transmission to a printer or for incorporation into a final file or files to be prepared by NPS for transmission to a printer to be selected by the NPS.

Project Schedule The project will be scheduled for completion 12 months from start date, but timeline may be altered based on the ability to safely travel and meet participants in person. Dates listed below are relative and dependent upon the completion of contract paperwork)

Interviewing and transcribing in process Submission of progress report 8 months from start date

FEE AND PAYMENT

Progress payments to the Contractor shall be made on the basis of proper and acceptable invoices submitted consistent with the quality requirements described above.

Start-up Meeting

Scheduling and conducting interviews begins

Interviewing and transcribing in process

Submission of progress report Up to 70% of total

SCOPE OF WORK

MEDGAR AND MYRLIE EVERS HOME NATIONAL MONUMNET

ORAL HISTORY COLLECTION – OPTIONAL ADDITIONAL INTERVIEWS

SCOPE

In accordance with the terms and conditions of the Contract, the Contractor shall perform additional work for this task order for the National Park Service (NPS) as described below.

CONFIDENTIALITY

The information developed under this task order is the property of the U.S. government and shall be kept in strict confidence.

PERFORMANCE PERIOD

The work shall begin after the completion of the original task and following the issuance of the delivery/task order and will proceed in accordance with the schedule for submittals. NPS reserves the right to begin this additional portion prior to the end of the initial task if, in consultation with the contractor, it is deemed feasible or cost effective to do so.

INTRODUCTION

This additional scope of services directs the contractor to, conduct approximately ten oral history interviews with individuals who were involved in the creation of the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument (MEMY). These interviews will focus on the actual creation of the National Monument though individuals who were involved in both its creation and the events they commemorated may be interviewed about both.

The Contractor shall provide all materials, supplies, labor, supervision, coordination, and management necessary to complete the work as specified in this scope of services.

POINTS OF CONTACT:

Contractual: Contracting Officer (CO): TBD Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) and Project Manager: Cesar A. Vasquez, 850 879 7931 cesar_vasquez@nps.gov Park Contact: TBD

PURPOSE

The purpose of this project is to produce approximately ten oral history interviews detailing the establishment of MEMY as a National Monument. The list of interviewees will be created with the assistance of NPS.

Background

The Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument, located at 2332 Margaret Walker Alexander Drive in Jackson, Mississippi was a private residence built in 1956. It was the home of African American civil rights activist Medgar Evers (1925-1963) and his wife Myrlie at the time of his assassination. At this location, the couple hosted civil rights workers, sheltered African Americans threatened by white supremacists, endured death threats that arrived by telephone and mail, and lived with constant danger even as they raised three children. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2017. The John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act, signed March 12, 2019, authorized it as a national monument and it was established on December 10, 2020, after the National Park Service acquired it from Tougaloo College.

Scope of Work

The contractor shall undertake and administer all necessary functions to accomplish the following:

· Identify approximately ten individuals involved in the creation of MEMY and its designation as a National Monument.

· Contact the selected individuals and conduct oral history interviews which will be both audio and video recorded and transcribed.

Research Sites

Interviews will be conducted in locations that are readily accessible without extensive travel.

Products and Format

NPS approved release forms will be signed by all interviewees/interviewers prior to conducting interviewers. All interviews will be transcribed and said transcripts will be transferred to NPS along with original recordings and release forms.

All research notes made during production of this project will be turned over to the NPS. Excluded from the research notes that will be provided to the NPS will be copies of either photographs or documents for which another institution either holds the copyright for or has placed restrictions on its distribution. The researcher/s’ final draft, including all photographs, maps, etc. shall become the intellectual property of the NPS.

The deliverables will include brief a summary report outlining the interviews that were conducted and including a brief summary of each specifying dates times and any special circumstances encountered during the interviews.

Front matter will include a table of contents, list of illustrations (if any), and executive summary.

The researcher/s will deliver the final version of the summary report as an electronic file or files (in Microsoft Word and/or Adobe Acrobat as requested). The final format of the document will be agreed upon between the PI and NPS. All illustrations used in the final document will be credited. If any of the illustrations carry restrictions (such as one-time use limitations), the researcher/s will provide this information to the NPS. The electronic file(s) supplied to NPS will be adequate for transmission to a printer or for incorporation into a final file or files to be prepared by NPS for transmission to a printer to be selected by the NPS.

Project Schedule The project will be scheduled for completion 12 months from start date, but timeline may be altered based on the ability to safely travel and meet participants in person. Dates listed below are relative and dependent upon the completion of contract paperwork)

Interviewing and transcribing in process

Submission of progress report 7 months from start date

FEE AND PAYMENT

Progress payments to the Contractor shall be made on the basis of proper and acceptable invoices submitted consistent with the quality requirements described above.

Start-up Meeting

Scheduling and conducting interviews begins

Interviewing and transcribing in process

Submission of progress report Up to 70% of total

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