The Bryan Fant Theater was silent as Penny Bickley read Anne Moody's account of her experience as a black girl in 1968 Mississippi.

Capital High School students listened intently as Bickley read about Moody taking part in a famous sit-in a Jackson, Miss., Woolworth's, how she was smeared with condiments and dragged about the store by her hair. "We sat there for about three hours taking a beating," Bickley said, reading Moody's words.

For most students, it was probably the first time they'd heard about Moody's experience or the experience of many blacks during the Civil Rights Era.

Moody's story is included in Howard Zinn's and Anthony Arnove's Voices of a People's History of the United States. Bickley chose the passage as part of a series of readings from Voices performed at Capital on Wednesday.

"I was looking to do something of substance before the election," said Maureen Nelson, an English teacher at the school who spearheaded the event.

The show, which will be repeated during a public performance Saturday, featured 14 readings by current and past Capital High students, most of whom either had Nelson in class or were recruited by her.

"I really loved the idea of getting students involved in their history," said Jaden McLellan, a 2006 Capital High graduate, "in stuff their parents and grandparents lived through."

McLellan, who performed Allen Ginsberg's poem America, participated in readings from the book when its authors visited Santa Fe two years ago. That, she said, is what drew her to participate in this project.

Steve Santos, another 2006 graduate who also participated in that initial reading, said he'd never heard of the book until that experience, but hearing the stories affected him. "If it kind of nudged me in my life," he said, "I think it's important to expose (students) to it."

For Niko Pacheco, a student in Nelson's English class, the passages offered a different perspective of history. "It's the unsung voice," he said, " which is cool because history's usually told from the powerful guy's perspective."

The cast will repeat their readings Saturday at the Bryan Fant Theater on the Capital High campus. The show starts at 7 p.m. and costs $5.

Contact John Sena at 986-3079 or jsena@sfnewmexican.com.