ROHA Conducts Interviews Virtually During the Pandemic
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Spring 2021 President’s ROHA Conducts Corner Interviews Virtually On behalf of the officers During the Pandemic of RLHS and staff of ROHA, I hope that you When the pandemic struck and Rutgers in the RLHS community shifted to remote instruction in March 2020, the are doing well in these ROHA staff of Shaun Illingworth, Kate Rizzi, daunting times. The ac- Don Koger, part-timers and undergraduate tivities of ROHA have interns quickly transferred ROHA's operations continued remotely this from 1 Spring Street to their home offices. past year, and we have tried to bring you some Within a month, ROHA had shifted to of the history-related interviewing narrators via Zoom and WebEx University activities History doctoral candidate Carie Rael presents video conference platforms or by phone. through numerous email research findings via Zoom during the third Over the course of the pandemic, ROHA has invitations. Rutgers is annual Chambers Graduate Fellowship Lecture. continued to expand the oral history collection, starting to get back to which now totals 1,128 interviews of veterans, normal this fall, and Rutgers faculty, staff and alumni, and when all is ready, we Carie Rael Delivers individuals in New Jersey communities. In will hold our Annual Virtual Chambers commemoration of their fiftieth reunion Meeting and present the milestone, the Class of 1970 donated a gift to Ambrose Award to Doug Oral History Lecture Stanton. Meanwhile, I ROHA to record the oral histories of members encourage you to contin- On Dec. 3, 2020, the Rutgers Oral History of the class, faculty and peers. ROHA's other ue your involvement by Archives (ROHA) hosted the third annual interview projects have focused on interviewing using the ROHA web- John W. Chambers II Oral History Graduate men and women who served in the military; site, reading an oral his- Fellowship Lecture. In this virtual event held faculty and administrators, notably faculty tory, listening to a pod- via Zoom Webinar, Carie Rael delivered a associated with the Institute for Research on cast, and most important- lecture entitled "'I don't see this happening Women and administrators involved in Rutgers' ly making a gift to sup- anywhere else': Reflections from the Grass- Covid response; alumni of Rutgers College, port ROHA. It is through roots in the Anaheim/Santa Ana Region." Douglass College, Livingston College and the the financial support of other undergraduate colleges and graduate RLHS community mem- The event is co-sponsored by the Rutgers bers that ROHA got its Living History Society (RLHS), Department programs of New Brunswick; and alumni of start in 1994 and has of History, and the Office of the Executive undergraduate and graduate/professional continued to carry out its Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences schools at the Newark and Camden campuses. mission. ROHA plays an (SAS). The Chambers Fellowship is support- Other new collections available on the important role in remem- ed by the Ware and Cobb Foundations and ROHA website include the Latino New Jersey bering the epic events of through the generous gifts of donors, including History Project and Pandemic Interviews, our past and the people Dr. Chambers himself. comprised of Voces of a Pandemic and who played pivotal roles, Rael, a doctoral student in the History De- interviews led by ROHA staff members. as well as in educating partment, received her B.A. and M.A. in histo- To aid educators engaged in virtual the next generation of schooling during the pandemic, ROHA staffers historians. Join us in this ry at California State University, Fullerton. crucial mission: help us She also served as an interviewer for the Lati- have curated new oral history resources keep our history alive. no New Jersey History Project and the Voces available to teachers, students and researchers. To make a gift to ROHA, of a Pandemic Project. The Digital Learning Center offers topical use the coupon on the Rael's doctoral research examines grass- interview lists, as well as a YouTube tutorial to last page of this newslet- roots activism of Latinx communities in Or- aid site visitors in searching ROHA's holdings. ter, or click on this link. ange County, California, working to counter The ROHA Podcast offers documentary style- podcasts and interviews with Rutgers graduate Stuart Freedman oppression stemming from gentrification, RC ‘62 criminalization and deportation. students, whose research focuses on 20th President, RLHS century social and political movements. (continued on Page 5) History Alive Spring 2021 Page 2 History Alive Launched by the Voces Oral History Center in New Pandemic Oral Is published by partnership with institutions across the United The Rutgers Living Histories Available on States, Voces of a Pandemic seeks to record, History Society archive and disseminate oral history interviews the ROHA Website Shaun Illingworth to help society gain a greater understanding of Director When the pandemic began, Karenn Hap- the experiences in Latino/a communities dur- Rutgers Oral History Archives puck Alves was an undergraduate at Rutgers- ing this historic era. Voces of a Pandemic is a Kathryn Tracy Rizzi Newark working to attain her degree. With collaboration between the Latino/a New Jersey Assistant Director History Project, directed by Dr. Lilia Fernán- Rutgers Oral History Archives friends and relatives getting sick with Corona- Writer & Editor, History Alive dez, the Voces Oral History Center at the Uni- virus and community members facing layoffs The Rutgers Living History in the spring of 2020, she refocused her ef- versity of Texas at Austin, and the Rutgers Society Executive forts. Along with several others, Alves Oral History Archives. Committee: launched the organization Amigos Por New- Since 2016, Dr. Fernández has directed the Stuart Freedman, '62 Latino/a New Jersey History Project to engage President ark (Friends for Newark) to provide food and other resources to individuals and families in student-researchers in collecting and archiving Carl Burns, '64 oral histories. In the summer of 2020, the pro- Past President need. "We helped not only Brazilians, we helped Spanish communities and we helped ject took on a pandemic-related emphasis. Dr. Barton H. Klion, '48 Fernández's team of Rutgers students conduct- Past President low-income, in different areas of Newark and other parts of New Jersey," Alves explains in ed interviews to document the experiences of Thomas J. Frusciano Latino/a community members in New Jersey Vice President her oral history interview. Alves' story is Programs, Awards and Honors showcased in the Voces (Voices) of a Pan- and surrounding areas during the pandemic and recession. The interviews were conducted Herb Hersh, '54 demic oral history collection, now available Vice President on the ROHA website. by School of Arts and Sciences (SAS) students University Relations Ezekiel Medina, ‘20, and Carolina Montes, With the pandemic disproportionately af- Paul Kuznekoff fecting communities of color, the Voces of a ‘21, and graduate students Carie Rael, Leo Vice President Pandemic Project originated from the impera- Valdes and Yazmin Gomez. Fundraising tive to amplify the voices behind the statistics. (continued on Page 4) Jim Pressman, '67 Vice President Outreach and Volunteer Coordination ROHA Announces Kindre Award Recipients Ted Hardies, '66 President's Counsel The Rutgers Oral History Archives (ROHA) and Rutgers Living History Society (RLHS) will award the 2020 Tom Kindre Legacy Award to Sofia Ruiz and the 2021 Kindre Legacy Barbara Klion Award to Isabella Kolic. The Kindre Award is given annually to an individual whose President's Counsel dedication to the practice of oral history continues the tradition set forth by Tom Kindre, who Web Address of the Rutgers was a member of the Rutgers College Class of 1942 and founder of ROHA. Oral History Archives: Sofia Ruiz, currently a senior, worked as a Public History Intern at ROHA during the oralhistory.rutgers.edu spring semester 2020. "I always have held a strong interest and love for the study of history," explains Ruiz, a history and political science major at the School of Arts and Sciences (SAS). To make a gift in honor of She is also pursuing a Certificate in Public History and a minor in international and global the Chambers Oral studies. Ruiz is the recipient of the Class of 1948 Scholarship and currently is taking the History Fellowship, please “Introduction to Oral History” class, taught by ROHA Director Shaun Illingworth. contact Allison Sachs Klein, Director of Ruiz grew up in Old Bridge, New Jersey and went to Old Bridge High School. A first- Development, SAS generation college student, Ruiz is a member of Douglass Residential College, where she has Development Office, at had the opportunity to assist in the coordination of the Big Ten Academic Alliance Summit on (848) 932-6455 or Advancing Women in STEM. She is a Douglass Big-Little Mentor, as well as a sister and past [email protected] executive board member of Sigma Delta Tau. Currently, Ruiz is finishing her History Honors Thesis on the history of Cuban-American prisoner trades and relations in the 1960’s and 1970’s, a topic of interest that grew out of her The Rutgers Oral History Archives received an father's experiences emigrating from Cuba. "Adapting to remote education has been a operating support grant challenge, especially completing my thesis," Ruiz explains of the impact of the pandemic on from the New Jersey students. The physical archives and libraries that she had planned to visit were closed due to Historical Commission, a the pandemic. She deeply misses having in-person classes and discussions, which she regards division of the Department of State, in as the highlight of a liberal arts education. the 2020-2021 cycle. (continued on Page 5) History Alive Spring 2021 Page 3 Doug Stanton Will Shaun ’s Receive Ambrose Soapbox Oral History Award A special thank you goes to Stuart Freedman for The Rutgers Living History Society his continued efforts as (RLHS) will award the 2020-2021 Stephen E.