Students and Faculty were treated to a visit from alumnus Andrew Horowitz '99 on Friday, December 4th. Horowitz was named the Hopkins 2009 Fall Fellow for his work in collecting oral histories in New Haven and across the country.

Andrew Horowitz '99 began the day by speaking at assembly. He began his address with a photo montage of his classmates and what they're up to, photos that he pulled from Facebook the night before. He spoke to the student body about his Hopkins experience, and the memories being back on campus brought back. He also mentioned how his summer internship at the New Haven Department of Weights and Measures led him to his current passion of meeting people and recording their stories.

Horowitz is the youngest alumnus/a to be named a Hopkins Fellow, having only graduated ten years ago. Since he left Hopkins, Horowitz has dedicated his efforts to collecting oral histories, the stories and recollections of people shared verbally and often lost in the passing of generations. He was a founding member of the New Haven Oral History Project at Yale from 2003–2007 which seeks to capture memories of New Haven's close knit neighborhoods of the past. He also played a vital role in the "Memory & Legacy" exhibition which told the story of how the New Haven Holocaust Memorial was built from interviews with Holocaust survivors, the organization New Haven Holocaust Memory, Inc.

Horowitz is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in American History at Yale University. His dissertation research involves the Hurricane Katrina disaster and other hurricane destruction and efforts to rebuild on the Gulf Coast since the 1950s. Horowitz spoke to Mr. Roberts' Twenty First Century Democracy class about his research and the students shared their impressions and thoughts on the Katrina aftermath. Mr. Roberts came to class prepared with Andy's grade book from when he took the class in the 1998-99 school year.

Horowitz also visited Mr. Melchinger's English classes, where the students are working on telling stories in the graphic novel style. Horowitz offered advise on collecting stories from parents and grandparents, and using a tape recorder as a prop to ask difficult questions.