LibGuides: SOCIOL 490: Learning from Outliers: Oral Histories

Oral Histories at the University Archives

Allen Building Takeover Oral History Collection, 1985
The collection includes oral histories conducted by Duke student Don Yannella in 1985 leading to his thesis, Race Relations at Duke University and the Allen Building Takeover.
Department of History Records, 1932-[ongoing]
Box 34 contains transcripts from twenty-six oral history interviews concerning contemporary race relations at Duke University from History 279: Oral History Techniques taught by Dr. Larry Goodwyn. NOTE: Interviews without release forms are restricted; they may be consulted for information only.
Duke Alumni LGBTQ Oral Histories, 2015-2016
Oral histories of LGBTQ Duke alumni conducted by students in the Spring 2015 class, LGBTQ+ History and Activism: Duke, Durham, and Beyond. The alumni attended Duke between the mid-1970s and 2000s and describe experiences at and around Duke and Durham, North Carolina from a variety of perspectives and time periods.
Duke University Oral History Program Collection, 1973-1978, 1992
Box 5 includes oral histories with several international Duke students. Oral histories with Duke faculty and staff are included throughout the North Carolina Civil Rights Movement series; interviewees include Robert Osborn and Peter Klopfer, Jake Phelps, Howard Lee, and C. E. Boulware, Duke's first African-American trustee.
R. Wensell Grabarek Papers, 1963-2013
Interviews of former Durham, North Carolina mayor R. Wensell Grabarek, from 2004 to 2013, in which Grabarek details his career and participation in desegregating Durham in the early 1960s.
Rainbow Triangle Oral History Collection, 1997-2006
More than 60 interviews with LGBTQ+ people in the Triangle region, often with connections to Duke or Durham.The majority are audio recordings, with a few video recordings. About half of the interviews include a printed transcript, some of which are incomplete. Many interviews also include completed biographical information sheets, created by the Project and completed by the narrator around the time of the interview.
Woman's College Oral History Project, 2003-2006
Nine interviews with alumnae of the Duke University Woman's College conducted by Carolyn Murray Happer from 2003 to 2004. Also includes one recording of alumnae reminisces from the 75th anniversary celebration of the Woman's College Library in 2006.

Selections from Rubenstein Library collections containing oral histories

Online Oral History Repositoris

Asian American Experience: Oral Histories
Lists websites where you can find oral histories of Chinese laundry workers, Vietnamese refugees, Seattle cannery workers, South Asians in the Pacific Northwest, and more.
Southern Oral History Program (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
UCLA Center for Oral History Research
UCLA has collected oral histories of Asian Americans, including Korean Americans and South Asian Americans.

African American Oral Histories

HistoryMakers Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
View oral history video interviews with thousands of historically significant African Americans in the arts, business, education,entertainment, law, the military, politics, sports, religion, science, and medicine.
Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century This link opens in a new window
Search for primary source materials on the freedom movement from governmental, organizational and personal perspectives. Note: Check the boxes for Black Freedom Struggle modules on the Advanced Search screen.
Black Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window
Search for books, essays, articles, speeches, letters and interviews of leading African Americans