An A-to-Z of Oral History at Columbia: 5000 pages with Richard D. Heffner

Posted on by Kimberly Springer

 

An A-to-Z of Oral History at Columbia is a monthly posting featuring the people, events, and organizations in the Oral History Archive at Columbia’s collections, as well as behind-the-scenes info about oral history methodology.

 

Title:

Oral history interview with Richard D. Heffner, 1997 and Oral history interview with Richard D. Heffner, 2011

Interview contents: 

From the preface to the 1997 Heffner interview: “Richard D. Heffner [1925 – 2013] began the oral history of his tenure (from July 1, 1974 to June 30, 1994) as Chair of the motion picture industry’s voluntary film rating system on July 1, 1995, just one year after he ended what he describes as his “Hollywood Years”. Nearly three months later, Mr. Heffner had completed sessions 1 through 10 (transcribed and edited as volumes 1 and 2) of his formal interviews with Charles Champlin, the long-time film critic and film editor of the Los Angeles Times.

The 2011 interview “focuses largely on his careers in the broadcasting industry and academia. Some topics covered include Heffner’s youth and family, his academic interests, media personalities, his experiences with network broadcasters, Channel 13, the Open Mind, and his musings on journalism. While the interview was intended to compliment an earlier interview that extensively covered Heffner’s involvement with movie ratings, this interview also touches on this subject.”

Julia Weist, MPA Rating No. 53558, 2022, lightbox with duratrans print, 28 x 50 in

Of Note:

  • Clocking in at over 5000 pages, the 1997 interview came about as an addendum to the interview’s initial sessions: “It was then that Mr. Champlin suggested their work together might be even more productive if Mr. Heffner were to prepare for their future sessions detailed summaries of each year’s events based upon the unique Daily Logs he had prepared from his first day on the job.
  • Starting with 1977 each of Mr. Heffner’s “Hollywood Years” is illumined here first with a “Pre-Oral History Memorandum to Chuck Champlin”, documented then by its accompanying “Exhibits”, and completed with its transcribed Champlin/Heffner oral history interview.”

Provenance:

Behind the archival scenes: These interviews benefit from a unique level of preparation and collaboration between the narrator and interviewer.

Access: Columbia University affiliates and non-Columbia researchers can read the 1997 and 2011 transcripts for these interviews online in the Digital Library Collection. Anyone can can make an appointment in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library reading room to read transcripts.

Additional resources: