Learn More About Central Michigan University

Central Michigan University (CMU) supports the PBB Registry by providing student research assistants, meeting spaces, and other resources. CMU actively collaborates with the PBB Registry partners to plan future research activities. Additionally, CMU professor, Brittany Bayless Fremion, PhD leads the PBB Oral History Project. The  Michigan PBB Oral History Project documents the history of the PBB mix-up through a series of audio-recorded interviews with community members—farmers, chemical workers, resident consumers, public officials, researchers, and activists.

 

 

CMU students:

Student involvement in the Michigan PBB Oral History Porject and engagement at community meetings has been transformative. Here is what some of the students shared about their experiences helping to document and preserve community stories:

"Through the many interviews I have conducted, it is obvious that those people affected by the PBB crisis are still hurt, mad, upset, and wanting to be heard...The Michigan PBB Oral History Project gives them a voice." 

-Nikki Brabaw, Cultural Resource Management MA, Graduate Assistant, 2018-2020

"These stories, they stick with you." 

-Candy DeForest, History MA, Graduate Assistant, 2019-2020

"History, to me, is no longer just about places and ideas you can read about in a book, but something much more personal." 

-Anna Reynolds, History Education BA, Research Assistant, 2019

"These students have shared in the pain and sorrow expressed by many community members, as well as celebrated moments of joy and triumph. They have heard the voices of those who, for a long time, felt unheard...They have been good stewards of the past...And the stories they have helped to preserve will make an indelible mark on future listeners. That is pretty incredible." 

-Brittany Fremion, Project Director