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Oral History Archives at Columbia

Oral History Archives at Columbia

6th Floor East Butler Library
535 West 114th Street
New York, NY 10027, USA
oralhist@library.columbia.edu
Established in 1948, the OHAC collections specialize in oral histories covering the arts, philanthropy, business, radio, publishing, filmmaking, medicine, science, public health, law, military, and architecture. We have interviews with individuals, as well as large-scale organizational interviews.
Start Over %22Focus%20on%20the%20Family%20(Organization)%22 Repository Oral History Archives at Columbia
Oral History Archives at Columbia

Cuban Voices oral history collection, 2004-2010

6740 pages

The Cuban Voices oral history collection is comprised of interviews conducted for the project of the same name. The project resulted in the publication of Elizabeth Dore's book How Things Fall Apart. The interviews are intended to engage in conversations with Cubans who lived through the transition to communist rule after the Cuban Revolution and experienced events of the following decades. The goal of the project, led by Dore, was not to interview people who have established themselves as public or political figures after the Revolution, but rather to generate a dialogue with ordinary citizens whose narratives do not appear in conventional narratives. Most of the interviewees, then, are not prominent personalities. They are professionals, campesinxs, teachers, sex workers, state employees, cooks, messengers, and people working illegally, among others.

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Oral history interview with María, 2005 Box 6

of the Lodge, its organization in economic terms, and the legacy of José Martí. María remembers
young age, she was fond of sewing. She was a seamstress all her life. María married at the age of 22
on the ways they found to stay in touch with her. María remembers her visits to Miami. She recalls

María begins the first session by remembering her work in the fields when she was little and her beginnings as a seamstress. Later, she discusses her ex-husband and children leaving for Miami. She comments on the ways they found to stay in touch with her. María remembers her visits to Miami. She recalls the arrival of the Cuban Revolution and the changes it brought to her life. María discusses religion and racism in Campo Florido. Maria comments on her joining the Odd Fellows Lodge. Later, she discusses the relationship between transportation deficiency and tourism. She also discusses the unionization process that took place in Campo Florido after the Revolution.

  1. Cuban Voices oral history collection
Oral History Archives at Columbia

Institute for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality Oral History Collection, 2014-2015

35 Volumes
The Institute for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality (IRWGS) at Columbia University is an interdisciplinary institute for feminist scholarship and education. It was established as the Institute for Research on Women and Gender (IRWAG) in 1987. Anticipating its 25th anniversary, the Institute for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality (IRWGS) approached the Columbia Center for Oral History Research (CCOHR) in 2012, about an oral history project to document the history of the department and the growth and development of feminism at Columbia. The IRWGS Oral History Project was conducted with funding from the President's Office and was the first project undertaken by CCOHR in its new home at the Interdisciplinary Center for Innovative Theory and Empirics (INCITE). Interviews with current and past directors of IRWGS, affiliated and allied faculty, administrators, and students were conducted between 2014 and 2015. The Institute for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality Oral History Project is comprised of interviews with 36 individuals involved in the founding and development of the Institute for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality (IRWGS) at Columbia University. Interviewers conducted these interviews over 68 sessions, creating over 90 hours of recordings. Nine of these sessions were recorded on video, and interviews have been transcribed. Interviewers were guided by a set of research questions, which emphasized the role of IRWGS as a political actor within the broader context of Columbia University, agitating for the inclusion of feminist analysis and practice. As the project progressed, questions expanded to explore issues of generation, activism, the developments within feminism(s), evidence of increasing support of IRWGS by the university, and the challenge of addressing diversity, sexuality and other forms of social difference theoretically and as professional practice.
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Marcellus Blount, 2015 April 2, 2015 April 16 Box 1

. Blount reflects on his involvement in community organizations such as the Audre Lorde Project and the Gay
. E. B. Du Bois Institute. More recently he was the Sterling Brown '22 Visiting Professor of English
literary and cultural studies. He has held fellowships at the Carter G. Woodson Institute at University of

In this interview, Blount describes his cultural upbringing in New York City, detailing his experience with segregation in high school and his decision to attend Williams College. Blount goes on to discuss his exposure to African American literature at Williams, citing Melvin Dixon as a mentor. Blount provides an account of his graduate work in American Studies at Yale University, and his addition to the faculty of Columbia University in 1985, serving as one of Columbia's five African-American professors at the time. Blount discusses his experiences of marginalization and the strategies he has used to overcome structural obstacles, including his development of alliances with feminist scholars within the English department. Blount names colleagues Susan Winnett and Carolyn Heilbrun as early allies. Blount discusses his longstanding advocacy for a more inclusive Columbia Core Curriculum, including his 30 year petition in favor of adding Ralph Ellison'sInvisible Manto the syllabus. Blount talks about his 1987 arrest during a campus protest demanding resources for African-American students. He recalls his emotions at the time, how it affected his work, and the University's response to the incident. Following this incident, Columbia established lines in African-American Studies and created the Intercultural Resource Center.

  1. Interviews

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