News
Obama Took On Recession, Health Care and Iraq. What He Didn’t See Coming Was Trump.
Accessible through the Libraries' Oral History Archives, "a new set of oral history interviews documents how Barack Obama and his advisers missed the shifting mood of the country that would ultimately replace him with a successor they considered a 'con man,' 'clown' and 'laughingstock,'" reports the New York Times.
Complete Obama Presidency Oral History Archive Is Now Available
Columbia News announces that the "complete Obama presidency oral history archive is now available: Columbia University’s Incite Institute offers more than 450 perspectives from the Obama White House and beyond," which will be accessible to researchers through the Oral History Archives.
Presidents' Days: From Obama to Trump
"Presidents' days: From Obama to Trump": The New Yorker writes that the official oral history of the Obama White House, accessible through the Libraries' Oral History Archives, "is a stark and extensive reminder of the values and the principles that are being trampled."
Oral Histories Behind Every Tile: Nicole Wong & The Mahjong Project
Oral histories behind every tile: Hear from the Mahjong Project’s history keeper, Nicole Wong, about her efforts to preserve mahjong's rules, etiquette, and personal anecdotes for generations in conversation with Curator of Oral History Kimberly Springer.
Behind The Boxes: When Archivists Get Personal About Their Own Family Histories
Bwog reports on a recent discussion about "the personal and professional spheres in archival work" between Curator of Oral History Kimberly Springer and David Walker, an archivist at the Easton Foundation who has, in his personal life, worked to digitize his family photos, scrapbooks, and VHS tapes.
A to Z of Oral History | I is for Institute for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality Oral History Collection
An A-to-Z guide to the Libraries' Oral History Archives: 'I' is for the Institute for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality Oral History Project, comprised of interviews with 36 individuals involved in the founding and development of the institute.
Echoes of the Epicenter: The New York City COVID-19 Narrative and Memory Oral History Collection Now Accessible
The New York City COVID-19 Narrative and Memory oral history collection, which captures "the voices and stories of those who lived through the crisis in the pandemic’s initial global epicenter," is now accessible to researchers.
Oral History in the News | Frances Perkins on NPR’s Throughline
Award-winning NPR program, "Throughline," consulted an extensive oral history interview from the Oral History Archives with workers' rights activist and former Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins, for an episode on "the woman behind the New Deal."
Columbia University Libraries Acquires the Archival Collection of MINUTIAE Mobile App
Columbia University Libraries announces the acquisition of the archival collection of a mobile application, MINUTIAE, among the first of the archives of a mobile application, which documents the content, development, and experience of the "anti-social media app."
An A-to-Z of Oral History at Columbia: 5000 Pages with Richard D. Heffner
An A-to-Z guide to the Libraries' Oral History Archives: 'H' is for a 1997 oral history interview of more than 5,000 pages with Richard D. Heffner, academic, broadcast journalist, and former chairperson of the voluntary film rating system in the motion picture industry.
An A-to-Z of Oral History | G is for (40% Oral History Collection on) Gun Violence in America, 2017-2020
An A-to-Z guide to the Libraries' Oral History Archives: 'G' is for gun violence in America, addressed in the Forty Percent oral history collection which "gives a powerful voice to survivors of gun violence" in the U.S. from 2017 through 2020.
An A-to-Z of Oral History at Columbia: “F” is for “Fair Use”
An A-to-Z guide to the Libraries' Oral History Archives: 'F' is for fair use and copyright, which dictate how journalists, researchers, and others are permitted to incorporate archival materials like oral histories into their academic work.
Oral History | New Collection Launches with Hundreds of Interviews with African American Elders
"Established by award-winning author Jacqueline Woodson, the Baldwin-Emerson Elders Project captures and celebrates [through oral history] the untold stories of activists, storytellers, and community builders who have witnessed and shaped monumental change in American public life."
An A-to-Z of Oral History at Columbia: “E” is for Ethics
An A-to-Z guide to the Libraries' Oral History Archives: 'E' is for ethics in the Oral History Archives, including discussions of archivists' ethical obligations to people, to narrators who share their stories with the Libraries, and to oral history interviews themselves.
Columbia Spectator | Obama Presidency Oral History Project...
Columbia Spectator reports on the progress of the Obama Presidency Oral History Project, which aims to "document the presidency of Barack Obama, CC ’83, from the perspective of...'extraordinary people' affected by the presidency."
Newly Processed and Updated Oral History Collections for September 2023
Newly-processed collections in the Libraries' Oral History Archives in September include the Cuban Voices oral history collection, which follows the transition to communist rule after the Cuban Revolution and events of the subsequent decades.
Noteworthy Acquisitions, Digitization, and Conservation for 2023
Archivists, curators, and subject specialists highlight a number of noteworthy acquisitions, conservation projects, and digitization efforts that are underway in 2023, including the Fly Papers that are now held by the Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
Oral History A-to-Z | B…is for Schlesinger Library’s Black Women’s Oral History Project
An A-to-Z guide to the Libraries' Oral History Archives: 'B' is for the Schlesinger Library’s Black Women’s Oral History Project, which memorializes women who had a significant impact on Black communities in the U.S.

