Center for the Study of the American South

The Southern Oral History Program (SOHP), located in the Love House and Hutchins Forum in the historic district of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, is a research institution dedicated to collecting and preserving

oral histories Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...

from across the

southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

History

Founded in 1973 by Jacquelyn Dowd Hall and the History department of the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

(UNC), the Southern Oral History Program is a part of UNC's

Center for the Study of the American South The Center for the Study of the American South (CSAS) is an academic organization dedicated to the study of "southern history, literature, and culture as well as ongoing social, political, and economic issues" at the University of North Carolina ...

. The SOHP is dedicated to the study of the American South as told by the many who lived, but did not write, history. The SOHP has collected over 4,000 oral history interviews with southerners who have made important contributions to various fields, been involved in specific historical movements, or lived through times of southern transformation. In the past 35 years, the Program has grown to become one of the more prominent collections of oral histories in the United States. Graduate students and faculty at UNC and the SOHP as well as independent researchers work to collect oral histories with the goal of "rendering historically visible those whose experience is not reflected in traditional written sources." The SOHP is involved in many oral history outreach efforts, conducting workshops, aiding researchers interested in performing oral history interviews, and helping to promote the use of oral history in the classroom across North Carolina.

Access

All oral histories are stored in the archives at the

Southern Historical Collection The Southern Historical Collection is a repository of distinct archival collections at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill which document the culture and history of the American South. These collections are made up of unique primary mat ...

in the Wilson Round Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and are freely available to the public. Many interviews have not only audio but also full transcripts, abstracts, biographical forms on the interviewees, and field notes from the interviewers. A
interview database
searchable by subject, project, interviewer, interviewee name, occupation, ethnicity, or interview number is available online. Traditionally, all oral histories have been accessible only on-site in the reading room of the Southern Historical Collection in Chapel Hill, N.C. However, a 2005 a grant-funded project, " Oral Histories of the American South" (OHAS), conducted by

Documenting the American South A document is a written, drawn, presented, or memorialized representation of thought, often the manifestation of non-fictional, as well as fictional, content. The word originates from the Latin ''Documentum'', which denotes a "teaching" or ...

began working to digitize 500 SOHP oral histories and provide online access to full audio, transcripts, and lesson plans for use of online oral histories in the classroom.

Research

Since 2001, much of the SOHP's research effort has been focused on the initiative "The Long Civil Rights Movement: The South Since the 1960s," which documents the history and evolution of the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

and other parallel movements in the South, such as the women's movement. These interviews focus on three main areas: race and the public schools, economic justice, and gender and sexuality. In 2008, the SOHP received a $937,000 grant from the

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation of New York City in the United States, simply known as Mellon Foundation, is a private foundation with five core areas of interest, and endowed with wealth accumulated by Andrew Mellon of the Mellon family of Pitts ...

to continue to collaborate in their efforts to produce civil rights movement scholarship.

SOHP projects by series

Though the SOHP collects interviews from independent researchers across the South, most of the collection stems from field work conducted specifically by the SOHP. UNC faculty and students along with SOHP staff collect oral histories within the scope of specific interview series developed by the SOHP, listed below. Each series has a specific focus, and many contain sub-series. *A. Southern Politics *B. Individual Biographies *C. Notable North Carolinians *D. Rural Electrification *E. Labor *F. Fellowship of Southern Churchmen *G. Southern Women *H. Piedmont Industrialization *I. Business History *J. Legal Professions *K. Southern Communities *L. University of North Carolina *M. Black High School Principals *O. Foundation History: North Carolina Fund *Q. African American Life and Culture *R. Special Research Projects *S. Center for Creative Leadership *U. The Long Civil Rights Movement: The South Since the 1960s *V. The Hayti Spectrum: Documenting Negro Life of the 1920s, '30s, and '40s in Durham, N.C. See th
Southern Oral History Program Collection finding aid
for descriptions of individual series and sub-series.

References

{{Reflist

External links

SOHP interview database

SOHP homepage

Oral Histories of the American South

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Oral history