Archival Documents Bring Light to Historical African American Legal Triumphs

A sheet of paper at Columbia’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library shows how a Black woman sought—and won—justice in 1791 America. This story originally appeared on Columbia News on September 16, 2021.  […]

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Oral History | A New York Times reporter reflects on bias in reporting through oral histories

  William Broad, science journalist and senior reporter for the New York Times, featured two oral history interviews from the Oral History Archives at Columbia’s collections in his reporting on how two journalists — one Black and informing Black communities and the other white and working for a newspaper of record — reported on the […]

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Remembering how we remember: Columbia’s 9/11 Oral History Project Allows Us to ‘Think About It Differently’

Columbia News spoke with Mary Marshall Clark, director of the Center for Oral History Research, about the process of oral history under conditions of trauma and documenting 9/11. Previous blog entries Remembering 9/11 through oral histories Oral history resources for teachers…and parents now teaching at home […]

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Making Holdings Available to Users: A Long-Standing Tradition

Since August 2020, the RBML’s Public Services staff has taken up the heroic task of making our collections available to remote users all over the world. In 12 months, they have scanned over 80,000 pages. Yes, that’s eighty and three zeros. They have carried on a tradition once headed by the pioneering Director of the […]

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