This interview originally appeared in the SPRING 2015 issue of The District.

We are pleased to circle back with one of our Morristown High School esteemed alumni and catch up. This fall we caught up with Allyson Hobbs, MHS Class of ’93...

After graduating Morristown High School, Allyson attended Harvard University, graduating magna cum laude in 1997. She attended University of Chicago where she received a Ph.D. in American History with distinction. Today, she is an Assistant Professor at Stanford University.

Allyson’s first book, A Chosen Exile: A History of Racial Passing in American Life, examines the phenomenon of racial passing in the United States from the late eighteenth century to the present. A Chosen Exile won two awards from the Organiza- tion of American Historians: the Frederick Jackson Turner Award for best first book in American history and the Lawrence Levine Awardfor best book in American cultural history.

MEF: “Tell us a little bit about how your experience at Morristown High School prepared you for your experiences at Harvard?”

AH: “I graduated Morristown High School in 1993 and when I arrived at Harvard, I wasn’t intimidated by it. I had a great upbringing in Morristown with a great high school experience. I was prepared for this next step intellectually, socially, and emotion- ally coming from Morristown and a wonderful community where I felt comfortable, valued, and loved. My experiences in Morristown were critical to my success at Harvard. Morristown taught me to be intellectually curious. I was prepared for Har- vard and I didn’t feel insecure or under too much pressure.”

MEF: “Tell us more about your book?”

AH: “My book is about racial passing—the phe- nomenon in which light-skinned African Americans pass as white and I examine the period from the late 18th century to present. I was inspired to study this history after my aunt told me a story about a distant cousin of ours who grew up on the south side of Chicago, a historic African American neighborhood, and attended a predominately black high school. She was black but she was very light-skinned and after she graduated from high school, her mother decided that she should move to California and pass as white. Her mother believed this was the best thing she could do for her daughter, that this would give her daughter more opportunities and better life experiences.

My cousin did not want to go and pleaded with her mother. But her mother was insistent and the matter was decided. This story made me want to explore the history of passing and it made me look at it in a new light. We often think of passing as a story about individualism and a way to get ahead. We don’t think about the people who surrounded the passer who were also affected.

MEF:  “What inspired you to become a writer?” AH: “My aunt and her great storytelling inspired me to become more intrigued by my family his- tory. I also wanted to write in a way that would be respected by academics but also that a broader audience could enjoy. During the time that I wrote my book, I experienced a lot of loss in my life. My sister died of breast cancer at the age of 31 and this was a very painful loss for our family. Far too many other family members passed away during this time including my aunt—the storyteller who set my book project in motion, my uncle, three of my cousins, and my grandmother. I also got divorced which was yet another painful loss. I really felt that what was happening in my personal life shaped the way I understood the stories I was telling and gaveme a lens to understand my sources in what I hoped to be deeper and richer ways. When I was going through so much grief, I found writing to be a way of expressing and working through those feelings. I also had great teachers along the way who inspired me to become a writer.”

MEF: “That is so great to hear. Tell us more.”

AH: “I can think of many and a few stand out. I had Mrs. Gorrell for creative writing and for English; Mrs. Rush for acting and I had such a fun experience in her class. Also, all of my other English teachers—Mrs. Paciorkowski, Mrs. Willson, and my senior year I had Mr. Paciorkowski. He had us read Absalom Absalom! by William Faulkner. I totally fell in love with that book. I didn’t totally understand it as a teenager reading it but I found the writing mesmerizing. Mr. “P.” did a fantastic job of mak- ing such difficult literature accessible to us as high school students. All of these experiences intro- duced and exposed me to great literature and that played a major role in how I wanted to write myself. Then, of course, Mr. Schulzki – who taught AP US History my sophomoreyear. He told a story of his family when they came to US fromPoland and he actually started crying as he told his story. It was at that point when I knew history is so much more than what people think it is. It is so personal, so emotional, and so close to our hearts. Seeing Mr. Schulzki become emotional telling his family history made me want to find out more about my family history.

MEF:  “What is your favorite memory of MHS?” AH: “Oh so many. I would give two answers. First, is just what an incredible place it is… so racially diverse, ethnically diverse, socioeconomically diverse – and I was happy that I went there and I had that experience. Second, of course there were the dances, going to Suvios for lunch, going holiday shopping onthe green, going to movies at HQ plaza, attending football games.  I feel like I did so many things for the first time atMorristown. One experience that I had that really was pretty incredible was during my senior year when I was president of Student Government Organization and we hosted a talent show. We needed special permission to do it. It was amazing. We had a sold-out crowd, we created a “Peace Patrol,” and it was an extraordinary night of celebration. Every different type of talent was represented. It was a night of incredible pride in our school. We showed that Morristown is a special and unique place and we have all of this talent and it was all being respected and applauded. You can be many different things and be a real success at Morristown High School. I really feel proud and inspired by that.“