Research Guides: The Newark Experience: Oral Histories

Life in Newark

Remembrances of Newark: An Oral History of Everyday Life From the 1920s to 2020 as Told by Her Firefighters: Neal Stoffers, East Brunswick, N.J., Springfield and Hunterdon Publishing, 2021. Available?

Interview with Mildred Arnold: Transcript of an interview with Mildred Arnold, an African-American woman born in South Carolina who moved to Newark in 1924 at the age of 8. Part of the New Jersey Historical Commission's New Jersey Multi-Ethnic Oral History Project.

The Krueger-Scott Oral History Collection: Audio files of over 100 interviews with African American Newarkers who had migrated to the city between 1900 and the 1980s, as well as those whose local roots spanned generations. Interviews were conducted in 1995-1999 as a project of the Krueger-Scott Cultural Center.

Krueger Scott Transcripts: The Newark Public Library has transcripts of the Krueger Scott interviews; a number of them are available as part of the Newark Public Library Digital Collections.

HistoryMakers: Over 3000 video oral history interviews with African Americans from across the United States who have made significant contributions in a wide variety of fields. Currently (February 2021) there are over 100 video clips of individuals talking about their experiences in Newark. Rutgers-restricted Access

When I was Comin' Up: An Oral History of Aged Blacks.: Compiled by Audrey Olsen Faulkner. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, 1982.; "Life histories of elderly black people in Newark, N.J. from tape recorded reminiscences collected as a project of the Rutgers Graduate School of Social Work." Available?

We Came and Stayed: Coyt Jones/Ras Baraka: Video mingling an interview with Coyt Jones, the father of poet and activist Leroi Jones/Amiri Baraka, from the 1990s with an interview with his grandson, Ras Baraka, the current mayor of Newark. Jones came to Newark from South Carolina in 1927.

Latino Oral History Collection: Collection compiled by the New Jersey Hispanic Resource and Information Center (NJHRIC) at the Newark Public Library. The 21 digitized interviews are all related to Newark.

Latino Oral History: Justice: Ten oral history excerpts focused on the theme of justice, as expressed through the life experiences from prominent Latinos who have focused their efforts in the state of New Jersey, many of them in Newark.

Inventory to the Rutgers-Newark in the 1960s and 1970s Oral History Collection: Digitized recordings of oral history interviews conducted by librarian emeritus Gilbert Cohen. These interviews document the city of Newark and Rutgers University-Newark in the 1960s and 1970s. Sixty people associated with the Rutgers-Newark campus were interviewed including students, faculty, administration, and staff. Includes links to online audio and transcripts.

Inside Newark: Interviews: The Newark Public Library has 40+ DVDs of interviews that Robert Curvin conducted in preparation for his book, Inside Newark: Decline, Rebellion, and the Search for Transformation (2014); they have digitized most of these.

The Firehouse Fraternity: An Oral History of the Newark Fire Department: Neal Stoffers. Springfield and Hunterdon Pub., 2007-; 6 volumes. Available?

A View From the Firehouse: The Newark Riots: Neal Stoffers. East Brunswick, N.J., Springfield and Hunterdon Publishing, 2006. Available?

An Eerie Silence: An Oral History of Newark Firefighters at the WTC: Neal Stoffers, East Brunswick, N.J., Springfield and Hunterdon Publishing, 2019. Available?

A.B. "Happy" Chandler: Desegregation of Major League Baseball Oral History Project: Interviews at the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History at the University of Kentucky Libraries. Digitized interviews including:

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Subjects: American Studies, Communication, Criminal Justice, History - Global & Eurasian, History - North America, Journalism & Media Studies, Latin American & Caribbean Studies, Literatures in English, New Jerseyana, Political Science, Social Work, Spanish & Portuguese Studies, Women's & Gender Studies