By Dr Jacqui Turner

‘Operation Pied Piper: Balancing Parental Rights and Government Responsibility’

The History Department and MERL contributed to a documentary film made by Hayley Hocking, a middle school student for US National History Day. The10 minute documentary, entitled “Operation Pied Piper: Balancing Parental Rights and Government Responsibility”, drew on the MERL Evacuee Archive, the Humphrey Fisher Archive and also featured interviews with Dr Jacqui Turner (History), Dr Martin Parsons (retired from the Institute of Education, who founded the Evacuee Archive) and research by Eleanor Wale (a part 3 History student researching in the Evacuee Archive for her final year dissertation).

Hayley achieved fourth place overall in the National Junior Individual Documentary category and won the California State prize for an outstanding entry, a phenomenal achievement as entries are in the millions. The History Department would like send its congratulations to Hayley, who is a student at the Frank Augustus Miller Middle School in Riverside and her inspirational teacher Ned Hocking on the achievement.

US National History Day is an important event in the US that aims to “make history come alive for students by engaging them in the discovery of the historical, cultural and social experiences of the past. Through hands-on experiences and presentations, today’s kids are better able to inform the present and shape the future.” For more details see the National History Day website.

We would also like to thank Dr Humphrey Fisher for his kindness and support in making his papers available for research.