Oral History Commons^™

Oral History: Richard Lewandowski

Zycie w Ameryce: A Collection of Polish-American Oral Histories

This conversation is an oral history interview with a former member of Worcester’s Polish-American community. The interview discusses much about the Polish-American experience, from the Polish diaspora, the effects of I-290 and discrimination on the community in Worcester, as well as the effect of global events such as the rise of Solidarity on the Worcester parish.

Interview keywords: St. Mary’s, English, displaced people, I-290, Polish-American parish, Solidarity, Polishness, John Paul II, discrimination, education, Church

Oral History: ​Carol Fredette

Zycie w Ameryce: A Collection of Polish-American Oral Histories

This conversation is an oral history interview with a former teacher at the Polish-American high school in Worcester, Saint Mary’s. The interviewee is not Polish, but of Lebanese descent, so provides the point of view of someone who came from outside the community yet still became a part of it. The interview touches on the rising importance of the English language, the Church’s centrality, ethnic parishes, school life, and high school basketball.

Interview keywords: English, ethnic parish, church, nun, club, basketball

Oral History: Anonymous 1

Zycie w Ameryce: A Collection of Polish-American Oral Histories

This conversation is an oral history interview with a longtime member of Worcester’s Polish-American community. The interview discusses aspects of community life, the neighborhood’s ethnic composition, as well as the effect of I-290 on the neighborhood.

Interview keywords: festivals, non-Polish, White Eagle Club, PNA, PNI, Booster’s, crime, expressway, Polish language

Oral History: Irene Rojcewicz

Zycie w Ameryce: A Collection of Polish-American Oral Histories

This conversation is an oral history interview with a longtime member of Worcester’s Polish-American community. The interview discusses aspects of life in the parish of Czestochowa, from festivals to clubs, to tensions within the diocese, as well as trips organized by the parish to travel to Poland.

Interview keywords: festivals, clubs, English, tension, Poland, John Paul II.

Oral History: Charlene Zimkiewicz

Zycie w Ameryce: A Collection of Polish-American Oral Histories

This conversation is an oral history interview with a longtime member of Worcester’s Polish-American community. This interview touches on difficulties the parish faced, tensions between different groups, school life, and the transition from an ethnic community to a public college.

Interview keywords: ethnic communities, festivals, Irish, fire, I-290, White Eagle Club, basketball, languages, college, immigrants, universal, June Show.

Oral History: Jayne Bausis Cotter

Zycie w Ameryce: A Collection of Polish-American Oral Histories

This conversation is an oral history interview with a former member of Worcester's Polish community. The interview touches on many facets of community life from the importance of the Polish language, of the Church, as well as Polish pride, the experience of immigrants, and John Paull II.

Interview keywords: immigrant, language, church, college, pride.

Berger, Fred, Wendy Chapkis

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Fred Berger was born in 1947 in Cleveland, Ohio. He went to college at University of Rochester and New York University in the 1960s. His older brother, who was part of the Israeli Olympic Team, died tragically in the attacks in Munich in 1972. Fred Berger moved to Portland, Maine in 1981 and played a central role in the gay community from 1981 to 1989 when he moved to Massachusetts to go to Social Work school. During the 8 years in Portland, he helped found the AIDS Project (with Frannie Peabody, Kristen Kramer, and Susan Cummings Lauren) and served …

Oral History: John Kraska

Zycie w Ameryce: A Collection of Polish-American Oral Histories

This conversation is an oral history interview with a former member of Worcester’s Polish-American community. This interview touches on community and church life, immigration, divisions in the city, and the effect of I-290 on the community.

Interview keywords: English, festivities, church, I-290, Quo Vadis, White Eagle Club, PNI, sections, basketball, displaced persons.

Oral History: Thaddeus Stachura

Zycie w Ameryce: A Collection of Polish-American Oral Histories

This conversation is an oral history interview with a former pastor of Our Lady of Czestochowa parish, the center of Worcester’s Polish American community. This interview discusses much of the history of the community from its beginnings and delves into the life of a parish priest, while also touching on topics such as immigration, Church corruption, community life and difficulties, and local festivals.

Interview keywords: immigrants, Saint Casimir’s, difficulties, seminary, Bojanowski, Moneta, vocation, dompolski, immoral, Polish priest, Solidarity, redlining, violence, festival, PNI, citizenship.

Mel Salazar (June 10, 2017), Csusb

South Colton Oral History Project Collection

No abstract provided.

Buildings And Books: Segregated Libraries As Places For Community-Making, Interaction And Learning In The Age Of Jim Crow (Presentation For The Society For The History Of Authorship, Reading, And Publishing Annual Conference, June 2017), Matthew R. Griffis

Publications and Other Resources

From the conference program: "This presentation reviews the preliminary findings of a federally funded, 3-year historical study that explores how segregated Carnegie libraries were used as places of community-making, interaction, and learning for African Americans in the age of Jim Crow. Known then as "Carnegie Negro libraries," these public libraries opened in eight southern states between 1900 and 1925 and were an extension of the well-known library development program funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

"Drawing on archival sources, including newly completed oral history interviews with surviving library users, this presentation explores how these libraries helped foster a …

20th Century Bronx Childhood: Recalling The Faces And Voices, Janet Butler Munch

Publications and Research

A popular photographic exhibit on childhood, originally featured in the Lehman College Art Gallery in the Bronx, New York, was brought to life two decades later through a library digitization grant. The website Childhood in the Bronx features 61 photographs of boys and girls with family or friends, at play, on streets, and in parks, schools, shelters, hospitals, and other locales. Oral history sound excerpts about their childhood, not heard in the original exhibit, complement the 18 vintage photographs shown. The combination of images with the spoken word enhances the user's sensory experience with deeper meaning and enjoyment. This article …

Mental Health Memories: A Web-Based Archive For Mental Health Stories, Amanda E. Castro

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The Mental Health Memories project is an online archive created in order to display and preserve the personal histories of those with mental health experiences. The project aims to fill a void in available material culture related to the history of mental health and its preservation. Participants’ contributions include: oral histories, personal items, documents, and audio. Bringing together multimedia sources, the MHMemories website allows for the preservation of these items and stories through the digitization of contributions. This method allows for participants’ items to stay in their possession while also becoming part of the archive. In order to recruit participants, …

Tuff Breeches, Arkadiy Ryabin

Theses and Dissertations

In consideration of language and it’s relationship to information and knowledge, the author explores personal set of events in relationship to that of the public, via forms of orality. 19th century American literature is posited as a hangover influencing contemporary events.

Codofil's Ally: Local French Teachers In Louisiana, Natalie Ducote

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In 1968, in the midst of the Civil Rights Era, the Louisiana government created the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL). During this period of heightened ethnic awareness, CODOFIL aimed to rectify the damage done by prior Louisiana legislation, which prohibited French language on public school grounds. In an effort to revitalize the French language in Louisiana, the organization hired teachers from foreign francophone countries and advocated for a curriculum rooted in Standard French. According to historians, many locals felt Louisiana-specific French dialects were once again rejected. Alongside these foreign teachers were teachers local to Louisiana. Utilizing …

Playing His Own Game: Ernest 'Dutch' Morial's 1977 Mayoral Campaign For Citizen Participation In New Orleans, Eric Marshall

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Ernest “Dutch” Morial’s 1977 grassroots mayoral campaign disrupted the political status quo in New Orleans with his message of citizen participation. Morial’s citizen-driven campaign reached over the constituencies of established Black Political Organizations, capturing an eager audience with his message of political, social, and economic equality. With the help of volunteers and other community organizations, Morial created a grassroots campaign that focused on making city government more inclusive. Unattached to the traditional patronage structure, Mayor Morial empowered the black community, reducing the constraints of their political access. Although his legacy is difficult to discern in New Orleans current political realities, …

Interview With Charles Le Guin, Charles Le Guin, Heather Oriana Petrocelli

Portland State University Oral Histories

Dr. Charles A. Le Guin is Professor Emeritus of History at Portland State University, where he taught for over thirty-five years.

In this interview with Heather O. Petrocelli on May 16, 2017, Dr. Le Guin recalls his experience as a member of the Portland State faculty starting in the 1950s. He describes his view of Portland State's development from a small college to a large urban university, the professional, social, and cultural environments of the downtown campus, and the founding of pioneering academic programs such as University Studies and the Honors College.

Luis Fuerte, Csusb

South Colton Oral History Project Collection

No abstract provided.

"I'D Rather Be Forgotten Than Dishonored": An Oral And Life History Project With A Vietnam Veteran, Hayley Michael Hasik

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

More than 2.7 million Americans served in the military during the Vietnam era and roughly 40,000 of them as helicopter pilots in Vietnam, yet scholars are still trying to understand the Vietnam experience. There is little doubt that the war played an influential role in the lives of that generation. Yet, many Vietnam veterans refrained from talking about their service, making it difficult to study and understand their experiences within the existing historical narrative. Using the life history of Warrant Officer James Scott, Hayley Hasik argues that Vietnam veterans—particularly helicopter pilots—are an underrepresented group that, through oral history, can provide …

Moser, W. Jo, Wendy Chapkis

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

W. Jo Moser is a mother, photographer, political activist, and lesbian. She has experience working in childcare and is passionate about child welfare. Moser has a unique perspective as a lesbian parent being in a romantic long-term relationship with her partner of several decades. She sheds light on what living in San Francisco was like as a queer-identifying person in the 60s, 70s, and early-80s. There were experiences of social isolation she shared. This isolation was due to the fact that she did not always feel accepted in lesbian communities, but also felt that she had to prove herself to …

Secrets On Morgan Hill: A Story Of An Unlikely Friendship Amid An Apartheid South, Camille Kleidysz-Ferreira

Master of Arts in American Studies Capstones

Introduction

The Burden of History and Fiction

“How much of the burden of history can fiction bear?” – Margaret Walker

Comprehensive historical research can often become the inspiration for art. The greatest pieces of historical fiction, are a result of years of historic scholarship before the creation of a compelling historical narrative or fiction piece. Through my two-year ethnographic study and collection of oral histories of the black community, surrounding the historic Bethel A.M.E. church in Acworth, Georgia, I was told a story about a friendship between two little girls who remained friends until the end of their lives. What …

Kathy Alexander (A.K.A. Suzanne Walker) Interview, Associate Professor Of Dance At Wright State University, Abe J. Bassett, Kathy Alexander

Wright State University Retirees Association Oral History Project

On May 5, 2017, Abe Bassett interviewed Kathy Alexander (a.k.a. Suzanne Walker) about her career as Associate Professor of Dance at Wright State University. She discusses the origins of her stage name, her early dance training, her professional career in New York and on Broadway, and her role in developing Wright State’s dance program. The interview reflects on her teaching philosophy, professional experiences, and lasting impact on students.

From A Traveling Daughter: A Photographic Memoir, Lilian Murnen

Honors Projects

“World sits outside the door, A voice in your heart is calling, The ends of the world await, Traveling daughter, Feel the sunshine on your face, Starlight guides your feet, Earth and Sky will carry you, Journey after journey, One mountain to the next, Voice in your heart is calling.” (Abigail Washburn, “Song of the Traveling Daughter” translated from Mandarin Chinese)

My family keeps me safe, but it is this safety that protects me from the discomfort that is necessary for growth. Like Abigail Washburn’s “voices,” my discontent and my curiosity call me to venture far beyond what I can …

Forgetting The Lynching Of Jesse Washington: Manifestations Of Memory And The "Waco Horror", Kurt A. Terry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

After a horrible historical injustice reemerged into public discourse in 1998, the citizens and civic leaders of Waco, Texas wrestled with the idea of whether to continue to forget the event or to acknowledge, apologize, and reconcile the past. At the center of the debate, a lynching of a seventeen-year old African American named Jesse Washington in 1916. Also known as the “Waco Horror,” the lynching disappeared from public conversation in Waco shortly after its occurrence. For nearly a century, the lynching remained relegated to anti-lynching movements, academic study, and the fringes of society. After the lynching’s reappearance into public …

Italian Fellas In Olive Drab: Exploring The Experiences Of Italian-American Servicemen In Sicily And Italy, 1943-1945, Guido Rossi

Master's Theses

Despite constituting the largest ethnic group in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II, the experiences of Italian-Americans have received scant attention by historians. In particular, the stories of the U.S. citizens of Italian descent or Italian-born but naturalized Americans who served in Italy, have received almost none. These soldiers, sailors, airmen, and coastguardmen who could often speak Italian, had grown up in Italian-American families and neighborhoods, and still had relatives in Italy, were asked to go fight in their country of origin. During the Allied advance, these men found themselves in close contact with a destitute Italian population …

The Intersection Of Culture And Activism In The Filipino Community In Soma, Ericka J. Martynovych

Master's Theses

My research analyzes the intersection between culture and activism, through oral histories with participants and organizers of SoMa Pilipinas, the Filipino cultural heritage district in the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco. I analyzed the impact of the establishment of the Filipino cultural heritage district on the Filipino community in the South of Market neighborhood. I examined what motivates members of this community to be politically active by organizing and attending protests and rallies, speaking at Planning Commission hearings at City Hall, attending planning meetings for SoMa Pilipinas, building relationships across organizations and fields, and providing resources for community …

Nihon Wa New Orleans No Ongaku Ga Daisukidesu (Japan Loves New Orleans’S Music): A Look At Japanese Interest In New Orleans Music From The 1940s To 2017, William Archambeault

Senior Honors Theses

Since the 1940s, music lovers and musicians in Japan has professed a strong interest in New Orleans music, particularly New Orleans jazz. This paper examines three ways in which this interest manifests itself: Japanese musicians immigrating to New Orleans, Japanese tourists visiting New Orleans, and sales of recorded and live New Orleans music in Japan. This paper primarily revolves around oral history interviews with Japanese musicians who immigrated in New Orleans. Additionally, this paper utilizes a combination of primary source and secondary source material to examine the history of Japanese interest in New Orleans music. By utilizing these sources, this …

Stories Of Knox County Final Paper, Sarah Aguilar, Maria Brescia-Weiler, Mary Grace Detmer, Gabe Jimenez-Ekman

Stories of Knox County: Final Paper

No abstract provided.

Joseph F. Murray, Joseph F. Murray

Duquesne Veterans’ Oral History Project

Joseph F. Murray [1921-2018] was a veteran of World War II, serving in the US Army Air Corps from 1943 to 1946. He attended Duquesne University following his service from 1946 to 1949. This is interview 2 of 2.

A Conversation With Jamie Hoag

LGBTQ Alumni Oral History Project

This conversation represents an oral history interview with a Holy Cross alum who graduated in 1998.

Interview keywords: Outfront, Chaplain's Office, Catholicism, religious, relationships, student involvement, government