In 1998, in the sleepy town of Whitwell, Tennessee, Middle School Principal Linda Hooper initiated a project with two teachers, David Smith and Sandra Roberts, which would gain support and recognition throughout the Western world. Hooper was concerned that her students lived in a cocoon in their town of 1,600, and did not have perspective on the larger society. She searched for an idea to develop tolerance in her students, and she produced a winner. The school began a voluntary after-school program for eighth graders to learn about the Holocaust.
Searching for a way to understand the enormity of the 6,000,000 Jewish lives lost, the students discovered the silent symbol of resistance to the Nazis worn on lapels by Norwegians: the paper clip. The students began to collect paper clips, boxes of 100 and handfuls at a time. They were getting nowhere. Determined to collect 6 million paper clips, they began publicizing their efforts, and the paper clips poured in.
The Paper Clip Project has taken on a life of its own. After Holocaust survivors visited Whitwell the students raised money for a memorial. Two newspaper reporters aided in bringing a rail car from Germany that had carried Jews to concentration camps. This now houses Whitwell’s Holocaust Museum and all the millions of paper clips that have been collected.
The students have grown in their awareness of the word beyond Whitwell; they have developed a greater tolerance for all people who at first appear different from them, and they have become compassionate in responding to human need. Sometimes it is hard for one person to step out and stand up for justice, but these students have learned that together they can accomplish great things.
