ARC-OH. Avery Research Center Oral History Collections

Abstract

The Guy and Candie Carawan Sea Island recordings, 1960-1969, collection contains field recordings and oral history interviews documenting Gullah Geechee life and culture in rural Johns Island. The recordings were created, first, during the Carawan's time assisting the Island's Citizenship School and, later, when they lived on the Island from 1963 to 1965. The collection consists of reel-to-reel tapes, audiocassettes, and transcripts.

Abstract The Orangeburg Massacre Oral History Project contains 18 oral history interviews conducted in 2001 and 2002 with students, professors, and journalists who were present during the 1968 police shootings of African American college students in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Interviewees discuss student organizing at South Carolina State College prior to the Massacre, the political climate of Orangeburg, the Massacre itself, the role of the press, the physical, mental, and emotional trauma from...

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 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...

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 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 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 Borough Project collection, bulk: 1986-2002 (1937-2002), documents the history of the Ansonborough Homes, a public housing community commonly referred to as the Borough by residents, on the East Side of Charleston. The Borough Project was an effort undertaken by sisters, and long-time Borough residents, Catherine Braxton and Rebecca Campbell to preserve the history and memory of the community as part of the 2002 Spoleto Festival USA through oral histories with former Borough residents....

Abstract The William Smyth audio collection, 1985-1994, contains ten oral histories, conducted by William Smyth, and eight music recordings. The oral history participants discuss life in the Charleston area during the 1950s with specific focus given to the Civil Rights Movement and segregation. The music recordings include Gullah Geechee artists from the Lowcountry such as Ron and Natalie Diase (Beaufort), the Brotherhood Gospel Singers (Mt. Pleasant), unidentified "Sea Island Singers," and a...

Abstract The Bobbie Auld audio collection, bulk: 1981-1998 (1955-2015), contains 128 audiocassettes and 1 CD containing audio recordings of church services, church choirs, and musical groups held and performed throughout the South Carolina Lowcountry (mainly Charleston and Berkeley Counties). Within the audio recordings of church services and events, African Methodist Episcopal (AME) churches are the majority, but other denominations including Baptist, Reformed Episcopal, and Presbyterian churches...