Oral History: Resources and Archives

Battleship New Jersey Oral History  

Online information about the Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial in Camden New Jersey's collection of over 300 oral history interviews. the interviews in this collection are of U.S. military veterans, providing first hand accounts of and stories from their experiences during the wars in which they served. Most of the veterans’ stories are video recorded. The Museum specializes in veterans of the U.S. Navy, however the collection also includes interviews with members of other US armed forces, civilian workers, and museum volunteers. Oral history interviews cover those who served in World War II, the Korean conflict, the Vietnam War, conflict in the Middle East, the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as current conflicts. 

Center for U.S. War Veterans’ Oral History Project    

"The National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey is the home of the Center for U.S. War Veterans’ Oral History Project. It is the Center’s mission to collect and preserve the memories of veterans through recorded oral history interviews.

The interviews are recorded on DVD formats and housed at the museum’s Sea Girt location, where they are accessible to researchers and scholars. As part of its program of providing historical information to the public, the museum is posting summaries of interviews on this website."

Changes Lives : New Jersey Remembers September 11, 2001

"This collection includes newspaper clippings, memorial programs, oral histories, music, art, literature, photographs, and many other items related to the events of September 11, 2001." Manuscript Group 1600, Changed Lives: New Jersey Remembers September 11, 2001, The New Jersey Historical Society.

Hurricane Sandy Oral History Project

"The Hurricane Sandy Oral History Project aims to preserve the memories of people whose lives have been affected by the storm and its aftermath.  Developed by an undergraduate history course - HIS 464 Hurricane Sandy Oral History Seminar -  the Project is course-based and student-driven, a reflection of TCNJ's commitment to community engagement, undergraduate research, and personalized, collaborative education.

On this website, you will find narratives drawn from these interviews.  They are individual stories about Hurricane Sandy, in the very words of the people who experienced them. We hope that these stories will draw attention to how Hurricane Sandy has transformed the lives of a wide range of people in the State of New Jersey.  We also hope they will serve as a testament to the spirit of the Jersey Shore, and a reminder that the recovery process is far from over."

James A. Baker III Oral History Collection

"Consists of transcripts and audio files of interviews with individuals who knew and worked closely with James A. Baker III during his career in politics and public service."

The Latino Oral History Collection

"Latino Oral Histories are intrinsic to the New Jersey Hispanic Research and Information Center's mission to document and preserve the history of Latinos in the state of New Jersey. This collection of oral histories offers direct, first–person accounts of the lives and experiences of men and women from diverse Latino backgrounds who call New Jersey home. Their stories are a living testimony of 20th Century Latino experience in the state, documenting the vibrant role this community has played in New Jersey's social, political, and cultural history.

The New Jersey Historical Commission, the New Jersey Council for the Humanities and the Friends of the HRIC have generously supported the development of several distinct NJHRIC Latino oral history projects since 2007"

Remembering The 20th Century: An Oral History of Monmouth County

"In January of 1999, The Monmouth County Library began a project to observe the turning of the century. Remembering The 20^th Century: An Oral History of Monmouth County was created when various members of the community were invited to become part of the Planning Committee. We were very grateful when Freeholder Theodore J. Narozanick agreed to become the Honorary Chair of the Planning Committee. With the invaluable advice and guidance of Howard Green, who was then President of the American Oral History Association and then as now, Research Director, New Jersey Historical Commission, we set our goals and established the parameters of the project. We hoped to interview about one hundred persons who had lived a significant part of their lives in Monmouth County. We committed ourselves energetically to the goal of transcribing the interviews into some kind of printed format. We discovered several existing oral and video histories. Mr. Gary D. Saretzky,  Monmouth County Archivist, will create a list of all collections that are housed in a public place and available to the public free of charge."

NJ Greek American Oral Histories Project

"The Pappas Interdisplinary Center for Hellenic Studies at Stockton University, with the support and collaboration of the Friends of Hellenic Studies, a non-profit organization that is part of the Stockton University Foundation, has established a New Jersey Greek-American Archive and Oral History Project.

Working also in collaboration with the Stockton History Department’s Oral History Project, The New Jersey Greek-American Archive and Oral History Project is committed to providing a professional-quality oral history archive for the Greek-American community."

Oral History Project at Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park

"The goal of the Oral History Project at Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park is to connect with the people who grew up in, lived, and worked in and around the City of Paterson. The stories they tell us represent an often untold historical record that will paint a richer picture of America's first planned industrial city. The stories might be accounts of mill or factory work, passed down from parent to child. Those parents may have been mill or factory owners, or the workers themselves. They may have been labor leaders, or residents of the nearby communities. The narratives we collect will better allow us to share the great history of Paterson, New Jersey, with our visitors."

Princeton LGBTQIA Oral History Project

"The Princeton LGBTQIA Oral History Project launched in the summer of 2017 and is a partnership between by the LGBT Center, BTGALA/FFR, the Program in Gender and Sexuality Studies and University Archives, with support from the Provost's Office's Princeton Histories Fund. During the summer, undergraduate and graduate students interview LGBTQIA alumni and current and former LGBTQIA staff and faculty to learn about their lives, particularly their experiences being LGBTQIA (out and not out) at Princeton, and their perceptions of the climate for LGBTQIA people at Princeton at different points in time. Students interviewers participate in extensive oral history methods training as a requirement for participating in the project and are paid research assistants. The project is coordinated by the LGBT Center and the Princeton LGBTQIA Oral History Project Advisory Board."

Ridgewood Oral History

"The Ridgewood Centennial Celebration Committee (in 1994) and Project New Century (in 2002) interviewed long-time residents to record their memories. Twenty two of these oral history tapes have been duplicated onto CDs (for long-term preservation) and transcribed. All interviews may be listened to in their entirety or read at the library. To read the transcripts see HERITAGE REF CD V. USNJ 7. To listen to interviews please CALL AHEAD."

Words of Woodbridge Oral History Project

"In the 1970s CETA Volunteers collected oral histories from nearly two dozen of the Township's seniors. Very little is known about the circumstances of the older interviews. The momentum for the project ceased when the CETA program was disbanded and for nearly two decades the cassette tapes were stored in a shoe box lost on the library's shelves. When the tapes were rediscovered in 1999, efforts were made to ensure proper storage and subsequently, a grant from the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office enabled Woodbridge Public Library to conserve, preserve and digitally convert these interviews and made the entire oral history archive accessible online."