Howard University Digital Howard @ Howard University Moorland Spingarn Research Center Publications Moorland-Spingarn Research Center 2017 Oral History Introduction and Inventory MSRC Staff Follow this and additional works at: http://dh.howard.edu/msrc_pub Recommended Citation Staff, MSRC, "Oral History Introduction and Inventory" (2017). Moorland Spingarn Research Center Publications. 21. http://dh.howard.edu/msrc_pub/21 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Digital Howard @ Howard University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Moorland Spingarn Research Center Publications by an authorized administrator of Digital Howard @ Howard University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE CIVIL RIGHTS DOCUMENTATION PROJECT In 1967, the Civil rights Documentation Project (CRDP) set out to chronicle systematically the civil rights era through a series of recorded interviews. This series, now known as the Ralph J. Bunche Oral History Collection, is a unique and comprehensive account of the civil rights movement. it captures for all time, the voices, thoughts, recollections and interpretations of leaders of the civil rights movement, members of its rank and file, supporters, activists involved in related activities and those who opposed the movement. It is an extraordinary record of a turbulent and transforming period of United States history. The Project was the brain child of Dr. Ralph J. Bunche and was supported by a major grant from the Fund for Advancement of Education. Dr. Bunche was then Under Secretary of the United Nations, Director of the Trusteeship Division and a member of the Board of Directors of the Fund. The Ford Foundation established the Fund in 1951 as an independent entity "to advance and improve formal or institutionalized education in North America." Over the next several years however, the Ford Trustees gradually brought the Fund under the control of the Foundation and eventually integrated it into its operations in 1967. Dr. Bunche proposed the Civil Rights Documentation Project in 1966, as one of the Fund's final grants. Ultimately, through grants from both the Fund and the Ford Foundation, the Project became one of the largest oral history efforts focusing on civil rights and related matters. Acknowledging the enterprising nature of both the Fund and the Foundation's support, CRDP Project Director, Dr. Vincent J. Browne, wrote in 1974: "It was through the support of the Fund for Advancement of Education and the Ford Foundation that the Civil Rights Documentation Project was made possible. It should be noted that their support included more than their financial generosity, but also their interest and willingness to fund an oral history project which in a way could be described as a very venturesome undertaking."1 The return on that investment made in 1967 has appreciated immeasurably. Scholars of the civil rights movement recognize the oral history collection as one of the most inclusive sources of its kind on civil rights, and have used it extensively. In the last two decades the collection has attracted hundreds of national and international scholars, and researchers and students at all levels ^Vincent J. Browne and Norma O. Leonard, Bibliography of Holdings of the Civil Rights Documentation Project, (Washington, D. C-: Howard University, 1974), xii. of academic preparation. It has also been used by writers, and radio, television and film producers. Taylor Branch, credits the collection in his Pulitzer Prize winning book, Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954- 1963. David Garrow, in his Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, 1955-1968, acknowledged the significance of the oral history interviews. Others have used it to develop scripts for radio and television documentaries, most notably the "Eyes on the Prize" series. Twenty-eight interviewers recorded more than 700 people during the life of the project. Some oral authors were interviewed more than once. As a group these individuals represent a broad range of civil rights activities. While many were well-known civil rights leaders at the time, a large number of them were known only to their local communities. In addition, there were interviews with several individuals who were generally opposed to the civil rights struggles of Blacks. The result is a collection that covers the widest possible spectrum of the civil rights field, as well as activities in other areas which were affected by the "movement." Eleven distinct categories of individuals were interviewed, including: 1. Persons involved as participants in such civil rights activities as sit-ins, voter registration drives, picket lines, boycotts, the Freedom Rides, the March on Washington, the Selma March, and the Poor People's Campaign. 2. Persons active in the implementation of court decisions in school desegregation cases. 3. Lawyers and judges handling civil rights cases. 4. National, state and local leaders of civil rights organizations. 5. Leaders in organizations giving significant support on behalf of civil rights activities. 6. Academicians and scholars who have focused attention on civil rights through their research and writing. 7. Officials of the national government including members of Congress and administrators in the executive branch. 8. State and local elected officials including members of state legislatures, city councils, and boards of education. 9. Persons supporting civil rights through their contributions or performances in such fields as the theater, music, art and literature. , J ' INVENTORY OF THE OTHER HOLDINGS OF THE ORAL HISTORY DEPARTMENT Oral Histories Program Name Release Tape Transcript AEAO 1 Alexander, Booker1 Yes Yes Bound and deposited AEAO 2 Dickerson, Eugene Yes Yes Bound and deposited AEAO 3 Bolden, Ann No Yes No AEAO Corbin, Thelma No No No AEAO 4 Dixon, Gladys Yes Yes Bound and deposited BMOH 1 Allen, Lt.Col. Clifford Yes Yes No BMOH 27 "American Blacks in Aviation No Yes No BMOH 2 Beavers, Clarence Yes Yes No BMOH 3 Biggs, Lt.Col. Bradley Yes Yes No BMOH 4 Bundara, Lt.Col. Wejay No Yes Yes, edited BMOH 5 Brown, Robert Yes Yes Bound and deposited BMOH 6 Chase, Col. Hyman Yes Yes Bound and deposited BMOH 7 Clarke, Charles No Yes Bound and deposited BMOH 8 Clarke, Charles No Yes Bound and deposited 9 Custis, Lemuel No Yes Yes, partially edited 10 Dabney, Forrest No Yes Bound and deposited BMOH 29 Davis, Gen. Benj. O., Jr. No Yes No BMOH 11 Dryden, Lt.Col. Charles Yes Yes Bound and deposited BMOH 7 Farmer, William Yes Yes Bound and deposited BMOH 8 Fox, Lt. John, DSC Posthumous ceremony No Yes Bound and deposited BMOH 8 French, Lloyd Yes Yes Bound and deposited BMOH 30 Gravely, Vice Adm Sam. No Yes No BMOH 12 Hamilton, Col. West A. Yes Yes Bound and deposited BMOH 13 Henderson, Ernest, Sr. Yes Yes Bound and deposited BMOH 7 Hogg, Richard No Yes Bound and deposited BMOH 10 Hubbard, Hezakiah No Yes Bound and deposited BMOH 14 Hunter, John No Yes No BMOH 15 Jackson, Ellsworth No No Yes, partially edited BMOH 16 Jamison, Thurston Yes Yes Bound and deposited BMOH 7 Lee, Andrew No Yes Bound and deposited BMOH 17 Lee, James Reynolds No Yes Bound and deposited BMOH 18 Martin, Col. John T. '81 Yes Yes Bound and deposited BMOH 19 Martin, Col. John T. *82 Yes Yes Bound and deposited BMOH 2 Morris, Walter Yes Yes No BMOH 28 "Original Black Milit." Yes Yes No BMOH 20 Parrish, Brig. Gen. Noel Yes Yes Bound and deposited BMOH 21 Porter, William E. Yes Yes Bound and deposited BMOH 22 Rayburn, Erie Lake No Yes No PMOH 23 Redd, B. D . No Yes Yes, edited • t . / XA11 names in bold are listed and annotated in the finding aid for the collection, with the exception of Dorothy Porter Wesley. BMOH 7 Redding, Samuel No Yes Bound and deposited BMOH 24 Robinson, Thomas Yes Yes Bound and deposited BMOH 7 Ross, Samuel No Yes Bound and deposited BMOH 25 Stevenson, Col. Dudley No Yes Bound and deposited Program Name Release Tape Transcript BMOH 7 Thompson, Sidney Yes Yes Bound and deposited BMOH 21 Tucker, Samuel W. No Yes Bound and deposited BMOH 26 Washington, G. L. No Yes Yes, partially edited BPOH 1 Carter, Arthur (Art) Yes No Bound and deposited BPOH 2 Coleman, Milton Yes Yes Bound and deposited BPOH 3 Lewis, Matthew Yes Yes Bound and deposited BPOH 4 Young, A. S. "Doc" Yes Yes No DOH 1 Coleman, Sarah Yes Yes Bound and deposited DOH 2 Diggs, Charles Coles No Yes Partial trancription DOH 12 Egypt Installation Cere. Yes Yes No DOH 3 Egypt, Ophelia Settle Yes Yes Bound and deposited DOH 4 Jarboro, Caterina No Yes Yes, edited DOH 5 Lindsay, Arnett Yes Yes Bound and deposited DOH 6 Lindsay, Inabel Burns Yes Yes Bound and deposited DOH 7 Mehlinger, Louis Yes Yes Yes, unedited DOH 8 Milne, June No Yes No guJHL 9 Parks, Lillian Rogers Yes Yes Bound and deposited T K r io Patterson, Louise Yes Yes No DOH 13 Sinnette, E. D . , "O. S. Egypt - Oral History Pioneer" Yes Yes No DOH 11 Staupers, Mabel Keaton Yes Yes Bound and deposited DOH Williams, Ethel Yes No No DOH 14 Wilson, Clint, Sr. Yes Yes Bound and deposited DOH 15 Sinnette, Elinor Des V. No Yes No DOH 16 Wesley, Dorothy Porter Yes Yes Bound and deposited HOH 1 Achille, Louis T. No Yes No HOH 2 Ashtine, Ivan No Yes Yes, unedited HOH 3 Baltimore, Charles Yes Yes No HOH 4 Baltimore, Thelma L. Yes Yes No HOH 5 DeFour, Fendrick No Yes Yes, edited HOH 6 Gresham, Lorenzo No Yes No HOH 7 Hankins, Sylvester No Yes No HOH 8 Johnson, C. Archer No Yes No HOH 9 Jones, Aubyn L.