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The Newark Experience

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?

African Americans in Newark

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 (October 2023) there are over 800 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.

Ethnic Groups in Newark: Oral Histories

Chinatown Oral History: Gladys Eng Chin
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.

Rutgers Newark in the 1960s and 1970s

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

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.

Queer Newark

Queer Newark Oral History Project: Interviews
Video interviews, with transcripts, of LGBTQ individuals associated with Newark.

Newark Fire Department

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?

Sports in Newark

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: