Bernice McCowin

Cache Community Connections (CCC) is a group of religious and civic leaders in Cache Valley Utah (Northern Utah) who organized immediately after the events of 9/11 (September 2001) in order to promote unity through understanding. The aim of the group was to bring about greater understanding, cooperation and interaction among and between Cache Valley's diverse religious, ethnic and cultural communities. The group hosts lectures, concerts, etc., in an effort to encourage and support community activities, dispel myths and engage in educational activities designed to increase community awareness of, and respect for, religious and cultural diversity.

In the fall 2007, the CCC hosted a presentation by Randy Williams (USU Folklore Curator and Oral History Specialist, and Director of the Latino Voices Project) and Elisaida Mendez (Assistant Director of the LVP) on USU's Latino/a Voices Project, an oral history effort to collect the histories of local Latino/citizens. At this event, Dean Quayle, President of the CCC approached Williams about helping the CCC with an oral history project of the communities' religious communities.

In early 2008, Bernice McCowin was selected to direct the project and obtain funding for the effort. The project received an Oral History grant from the Utah Humanities Council and Utah Division of State History. On 21 June 2008, Randy Williams taught an oral history workshop for the CCC. Beginning in August 2008, the CCC embarked on the oral history effort which concluded in March 2010. The 39 interviews were all transcribed. On Wednesday, 14 October 2009, The Cache Valley Historical Society hosted a presentation on the project "An Adventure in Oral History" by Bernice McCowin, Cindy Roberts, Jan Hines, Boyd Israelsen, Reed Stock and Betty Neeley.

Bernice McCowin deposited the collection at Utah State University's Special Collections and Archives March 2010. As well, copies of the transcript and cassette tapes were also donated to the Utah Humanities Council/Utah Division of State History as fulfillment for the oral history grant; March 2010