Media producers, content creators, and documentarians familiar with Columbia’s oral history collections know that through a relatively easy licensing and permissions process, they can find and showcase audio gems for their productions. Most recently, NPR’s award-winning program Throughline put to good use the extensive oral history interview with Frances Perkins. Using audio to “bring history […]
On View | Windows into the Past: Columbia College Class Albums, 1856-1890
How do you capture your college memories? Columbians in the late 19th century took advantage of the new art of photography to collect their classmates’ images in keepsake volumes. A new exhibition in the RBML Chang Octagon showcases these photo albums and offers some insights into student life at Columbia before the move to Morningside […]
Echoes of the Epicenter: The New York City COVID-19 Narrative and Memory Oral History Collection Now Accessible
OHAC announces the availability of the New York City COVID-19 Narrative and Memory oral history collection, a significant archive covering the period of 2020-2022. The materials are available by appointment in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library reading room, with select interviews and materials available online in the Digital Library Collection. This vital collection, […]
“New York’s Future As I View It”
A forgotten collection of New York students’ essays from the 1960s captures more than a thousand viewpoints on the city’s greatest challenges and opportunities. Now fully digitized and searchable, the “New York’s Future As I View It” essay contest from 1965 offers a unique snapshot of the history of the city’s future. […]
Research from the RBML | Tessa Roynon writes about Toni Morrison’s editorial list
The Toni Morrison editorial files are a much-loved part of the Random House papers, tracking Morrison’s work with a host of renowned and canonical authors, including Toni Cade Bambara, Henry Dumas, Lucille Clifton, and Angela Davis. Below, Tessa Roynon, librarian at The Swan School, discusses why libraries should consider preserving examples of Morrison’s editorial list […]