Let me first say, if you haven’t already heard this from me, that the Center’s collection would not be what is it without our partnerships with individual scholars, community groups, and volunteers. We work together with a large number of people to establish unique oral history projects, and in return they donate their oral histories to the Center. Our partners provide the expertise in the field they are documenting and the Williams Center provides the infrastructure. We train people in the best practices as advocated by the Oral History Association, and as a repository, the Center process and preserve these collections and make them available to the public through LSU Libraries Special Collections.
So thank you to our partners! And please, all of you potential partners out there, let me know if you want to partner with the Center in the present or near future.
So the 2009 Fall semester is in full swing and the Center’s projects and collaborations continue to grow.
This past summer the Center began the History of Standard Oil in Baton Rouge oral history project. So far we’ve interviewed Jim Rector, Sydney Arbour, Jr., Elsie Carroll, Buddy Boudreaux, Arthur Kunberger, George Gallagher, Pauline Jobe, Jerry Affolter, and Amos Kent. The Center’s interviewers for this project are Mary Hebert Price, Maxine Crump, Tatiana Clay, and Jamie White. Also for this series, the Louisiana Historical Foundation, headed up by Lillie Gallagher, and volunteers from ExxonMobil are working with the Center to conduct oral histories with former Standard Oil employees.
On campus, the Williams Center is continuing a partnership that began last spring with Dr. Alecia Long in the LSU History Department. Her Fall 2009 history students are gathering oral histories for their project, “Listening to Louisiana Women: Sexuality, Reproduction and Social Equality.” Read more about that here:
http://appl003.lsu.edu/UNV002.nsf/PressReleases/PR5890?OpenDocuments.
Volunteers Gwendolyn Fairchild, Director of Planned Giving for the LSU Foundation and Anne Marie Marmande, Director of Development for the LSU College of Basic Sciences, have worked with the Center for several years and they have donated oral history interviews on LSU History including those with Jack Pulwer, Nelson Bardin, Adolphe G. Gueymard, and David M. Hunter.
Marian Lefebvre of Louisiana Public Broadcasting recently donated copies of oral history interviews conducted with World War Two veterans in conjunction with a documentary. Copies also exist at the the D-Day museum and the Library of Congress. Those interviewed include Ira Schilling, Clyde Benson, James Harper, Roscoe Bolton, Philip Serio, Oscar Richard III, and Irma Darphin.
The Williams Center has worked for more than two years with the staff at Destrehan Plantation to document the insitutional history of the plantation. Headed up by Angie Mathern, they have created over 12 collections and interviewed several people, including Martin Spindel, Betty Haydel, Nancy Robert, and Howard Walker.
Nancy Sharon Collins, LLC Director of Special Projects at AIGA in New Orleans has partnered with the Center to conduct an oral history project on the history of graphic design in New Orleans, and has donated more than 10 collections so far on her project, including interviews with James Gabour, Kenny Harrison, Gus Levy, Cordell Louviere, Yvette Rutledge, Don Smith, and Tom Varisco.
And out of New Orleans, Tatiana Clay recently teamed up with photographer Eric Julien to document New Orleans Jazz and R a& B musicians including Freddie King, Harold Battiste, Bob French, Joseph “Smokey” Johnson, and Uncle Lionel Battiste.
Kathryn Rountree recently donated oral histories she conducted for a Master’s thesis in history on the personal experiences of White Father missionaries in Central and East Africa. Topics covered include the White Fathers’ distinctly religious mission; their goals and objectives; their ideas about African religion and culture; and how the political and cultural climates informed their actions.
We’ve also recently begun a collaboration with LSU Professor Michael Pasquier for his classes on the History of Religion in the United States. The Center is beginning collaborationss with the New Orleans Women’s Exchange as well as the AARP out of New Orleans. Stay tuned to see what develops!