Dr. James McPartland earned his B.A. and M.A. from Cornell before coming to Johns Hopkins, where he worked with Hopkins sociologist James Coleman and wrote his dissertation on the resegregation of schools. For years he served as Executive Director of the Center for Social Organization of Schools at Hopkins. He describes working on the 1966 Coleman Report ("Equality of Educational Opportunity"), extending its findings into CSOS projects with Baltimore city schools, and controversies surrounding race and integration. He concludes with thoughts about the CSOS's first 50 years and the future of it and other programs. This oral history is part of the Hopkins Retrospective oral histories series.

Dr. Karl Alexander is the John Dewey Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Founder and Director of the Thurgood Marshall Alliance. Before joining Johns Hopkins in 1971, he earned his B.A. from Temple University (1968) and Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (1972). In this interview, Alexander discusses his dissertation work at UNC and contributions to Hopkins' new Center for Social Organization of Schools in the 1970s. He goes on to detail his work in the sociology of education, which drew from field research in Baltimore, as well as his founding of the Thurgood Marshall Alliance, which aims to improve economic and racial diversity in Baltimore schools. This oral history is part of the Hopkins Retrospective oral histories series.

Dr. Joyce Epstein, who earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from Johns Hopkins (1974), is a research professor of education and sociology at the JHU School of Education and director of both the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships and the National Network of Partnership Schools. She discusses joining JHU's Center for Social Organization of Schools in 1974, working with James Coleman, a CSOS project with the Howard County School District, changing technologies and methods for performing quantitative research, challenges of conducting research and partnerships with school districts, and the impact of CSOS during its first 50 years. This oral history is part of the Hopkins Retrospective oral history series.

Margaret Sparrow was born in Baltimore, Maryland. She earned her undergraduate degree from Goucher College in 1950 and her graduate degree in political science from Johns Hopkins University. Sparrow served as the executive director of the Baltimore Council of Fire Girls from 1955 until 1965. After moving to White Plains, New York, Sparrow took a position as the executive director pf the Southwest Connecticut Girl Scout Council for 5 years. She spent the remainder of her career as an executive director of the Constituent Leagues for the National League for Nursing in New York. Sparrow was also active in Republican politics and ran for a spot on the Baltimore City Council in 1950. In this history, Sparrow talks about her life, growing up in Baltimore, and Girl Scouts. This oral history is part of the Mame Warren oral histories series.