Oral histories conducted by students in the course HIST 1636 Intro to Harvard History
Overview
Transcriptions and audio recordings of oral history interviews conducted with Harvard and Radcliffe alumni and alumnae by students in HIST 1636: Intro to Harvard History: Beyond the Three Lies in Spring 2021.
Dates
- Creation: Spring 2021
Researcher Access
Open for research with two exceptions. Individual restrictions, when applicable, are noted in the description of each oral history.
Extent
230 oral histories230 digital files (PDF)
244 digital audio files
Transcriptions and audio recordings of oral history interviews conducted with Harvard and Radcliffe alumni and alumnae by students in HIST 1636 Intro to Harvard History: Beyond the Three Lies in Spring 2021.
Topics of the oral history interviews center on the questions that students were encouraged to ask the interviewees. These include their decision to attend Harvard/Radcliffe, the admission process, freshman dormitories and Houses, socializing and parties, food on campus and the surrounding community, courses, the relationship between Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges, LGBTQ life, extracurricular activities, activism/pacifism and Harvard’s connection to the military, the presence or lack of diversity, and Harvard Commencement.
Historical note on HIST 1636 Intro to Harvard History
Lecturer Zachary Nowak taught the course HIST 1636 Intro to Harvard History: Beyond the Three Lies in Spring 2021. It was a historical methods course designed for first-year students, sophomores, and those who had never taken a history course.
One course assignment required students to conduct an oral history interview with a former Harvard or Radcliffe College history concentrator whose Harvard/Radcliffe class years ranged from 1950 to 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Harvard courses were held remotely during the 2020-2021 academic year, and the oral histories were conducted over remotely over Zoom.
Arrangement
Listed in alphabetical order by the last name of the interviewee.
Acquisition information
Accession 2022.0012; accessioned 2021-09-07.
Accession 2023.0932; accessioned 2023-02-17.
Online access
Links to online content will be added as they become available. They will accompany the description of each oral history interview.
Inventory update
This document last updated 2023 September 05.
Processing Information
Finding aid created by Jennifer Pelose and Kate Bowers, September 2021. Archivists made minimal alterations to biographies of interviewees written by student interviewers, chiefly to spelling of proper names, punctuation, and capitalization.
Sources of biographical information and keywords
Student interviewers provided biographical notes and keywords.
When available, archivists provided the Library of Congress authorized form of the interviewee's name; if an authorized form was not available, archivists added degree, school, and year to the name.
- Title
- Oral histories conducted by students in the course HIST 1636 Intro to Harvard History, Spring 2021 : an inventory
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hua68021
Repository Details
Part of the Harvard University Archives Repository
Holding nearly four centuries of materials, the Harvard University Archives is the principal repository for the institutional records of Harvard University and the personal archives of Harvard faculty, as well as collections related to students, alumni, Harvard-affiliates and other associated topics. The collections document the intellectual, cultural, administrative and social life of Harvard and the influence of the University as it emerged across the globe.
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