ARC-OH. Avery Research Center Oral History Collections

Abstract The Somebody Had to Do It (SHTDI) Project brought to Claflin University in 2008, under the auspices of the Jonathan Jasper Wright Institute for the Study of Southern African-American History, Culture and Policy. This initiative was designed as a multi-disciplinary research project to identify the “first children” who “sacrificed their youth” in implementing the Brown vs. Board of Education decision of 1954. After the creation of a database identifying the names,...

Abstract The Documenting the Arc Oral History Collection is a series of video oral history interviews conducted between fall 2021 and summer 2022 by Dr. Millicent Brown and Cedar Wolf Media using grant funds from the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation. The interviews document the experiences of activists, organizers, artists, clergy, journalists, and other community members who were members or affiliates of Black Lives Matter Charleston (2014-2018) and other local grassroots organizations in...

Abstract The Avery Research Center Lowcountry oral histories collection brings together individual oral history interviews mostly conducted by Avery Research Center employees with people who are from the South Carolina Lowcountry or lived and worked in the Lowcountry while adults. A handful of oral histories that were donated to the Avery Research Center, but not conducted by Avery Research Center employees, are also included in this collection. A wide range of topics are discussed in these oral...

Abstract The Avery Research Center Averyite oral histories collection brings together individual oral histories conducted by Avery Research Center employees with Averyites (students, graduates, teachers, and descendants) to discuss their time at the Avery Normal Institute and their professional and personal lives after they attended the school. A handful of oral histories with Averyites that were donated to the Avery Research Center, but not conducted by Avery Research Center employees, are also...

Abstract The Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture Oral History Project brings together oral history projects coordinated by the Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture (AIAAHC) as well as individual oral histories conducted by members of the Institute. The majority of the oral histories were done as a part of the Avery Normal Institute Oral History Project which sought to document the experiences and perceptions of former students, teachers, principals, and community...

Abstract The South Carolina Civil and Human Rights Anthology is an oral history project containing 18 interviews conducted by the Avery Research Center in 2004 and 2007. Participants discuss their family history and their involvement in organizing and activism work in South Carolina. Topics discussed include labor organizing and labor strikes, demonstrations during the Civil Rights Movement such as sit-ins and marches, voter registration and voter turnout efforts, the Orangeburg Massacre, and the...

Abstract The South Carolina Black Legislators Oral History Project contains seven oral histories conducted by the Avery Research Center. Participants discuss their family history, their interest in politics, accomplishments during their political careers, and thoughts about the state of South Carolina politics and their political legacies. Interviewees include Rep. Alma Bryd, Sen. Herbert Fielding, Chief Justice Ernest Finney, Sen. Maggie Glover, Rep. Brenda Lee, Rep. David Mack III, Sen. McKinley...

Abstract The Dart Library Oral History Project contains five oral histories documenting individuals' experiences of using the library at Dart Hall and attending dances in the second floor of the Hall. Participants also discuss family history, their memories of Jim Crow segregration in Charleston, and their professional careers. The oral history project was undertaken by the Avery Research Center as part of the 85th anniversary commemoration of the John L. Dart Library. The oral histories were...

Abstract The East Side Oral History Project collection contains three oral history interviews conducted by Elizabeth Alston as part of the research process for the Charleston Museum Leaflet Number 30, Between the Tracks: The Heritage of Charleston’s East Side Community. Included in the collection are transcripts of the oral histories conducted with Lorraine Fordham, Frances Mack, and Phillip Simmons. In their interviews, interviewees discuss growing up on the East...

Abstract The South Carolina Voices of the Civil Rights Movement Conference collection documents the 1982 conference held by the Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture. The conference hosted community organizers and scholars to discuss the Civil Rights Movement in South Carolina with sessions on voting and political action, labor, education, the culture of the movement, the Highlander influence, the youth movement, civic and political action, and redress and protest. Oral histories were...