Columbia oral history program

This crisis is highlighting structural fault-lines in our society as well as the strength and resilience of our communities, even as our society transforms in ways we do not yet understand. It will be important for those navigating the post-COVID future to hear the voices of those who lived through this period. Researchers, health workers and advocates, historians, artists, and policymakers will learn from listening to and watching New Yorkers talk about how we made it through this extended crisis.

Our team of thirty oral history interviewers is working this April and May to record initial interviews with two hundred New Yorkers, including doctors, nurses, home health aides, funerary workers, doulas, parents, homeless people, organizers, artists, immigrants, teachers, other essential workers, public officials, and everyday New Yorkers of all kinds. If you are interested in participating in this project take the survey above. Some survey participants will be invited to write chronicles or participate in interviews.

This info sheet will tell you more about participating. Through the creation, archiving and analysis of individual, community and institutional histories, we amplify the critical first-person narratives that constitute memory for generations to come. Our innovative curriculum combines professional and academic education. Academics learn to communicate with the public and produce knowledge of broad relevance; other professionals benefit from research experience and grounding in the history of our field.

Our graduates work in museums, historical societies, advocacy organizations, media, the arts, education, human rights and development. As independent contractors, they manage oral history projects, teach interview workshops, and offer project consultations to leading institutions and community organizations.

They earn doctorates in fields like anthropology, sociology, history, journalism, and American studies or professional degrees in law, education, or social work.

During a year at OHMA, students hone skills in digital audio and video production and editing, digital archiving, oral history project design and interviewing, and both historical and social science analysis.

For Fall the RBML reading room will be open on a very limited basis by appointment only beginning September 8, to current Columbia affiliates students, faculty and staff whose individual research requires consulting RBML materials.

For more information, please contact us via email for a reference consultation. We have a number of newly digitized interviews in the Columbia University Libraries' Digital Library Collection , as well as interviews with restrictions about publishing online.

OHAC reference staff will be able to inform you about the availability of specific interviews or collections.