Special Collections: African American Studies Research Guide

The Delaware Oral History collection was a project of the University of Delaware History Department, directed by Dr. John Munroe and funded by Robert H. Richards, Jr.. Interviews with 317 Delawareans conducted between 1966 and 1978 cover topics including the following: educators, immigrants, journalism, politics, and the University of Delaware, Delaware in the Depression, and the 1950s relocation of Long Island and New Jersey potato farmers to Delaware. Includes interview with Nora Thompson Dean, the last native speaker of Lenape language. Interview conducted by C.A. Weslager and Mrs. Dean’s recitation of Lord's prayer spoken in Lenape Delaware Indian language.

The Iron Hill Museum oral history collection consists of 37 interviews (recorded on 59 audio cassettes) documenting the history of the Iron Hill School #112C, which was one of the African American schools built in Delaware with funds provided by Pierre S. du Pont. Additional interviews in this collection document life in the Iron Hill community and nearby Pleasant Valley, as well as education provided in a few other Delaware schools in Hockessin, Milton, and Claymont.

This collection contains 22 oral history interviews providing a wealth of information on history and culture of the New London Road/Cleveland Avenue community in Newark, Delaware. These interviews, collected during two oral history projects by University of Delaware Professor Bernard L. Herman and students from 2004-2006, feature members of the New London Road community and discuss various aspects of life in the predominantly African-American community. The collection contains transcripts of selected interviews created by students as well as research data, recipes, and galley proofs for the book "Food Always Brings People Together: recipes, poems, and stories from the New London Road community, Newark, Delaware," written by the University of Delaware Center for Material Culture Studies, under the direction of Professor Herman.

This collection of raw and edited footage of interviews of Newark, Delaware, area Afro-Latinas was created in Spring 2009 by students in a Women's Studies course (WOMS 410) at the University of Delaware.

Oral histories and images collected at the event, "Preserving the Past: Gathering History & Mementos of the New London Road / School Hill Community," Saturday, May 20, 2017. Established in 1867 as the first documented public school for African-American youth in the Newark (Delaware) community, the school and its surrounding property were also an important social and recreational meeting place for neighborhood residents.

Voices of 1968 is an oral history collection focused on Delawareans to capture local stories of that pivotal year in American history. Interviews were conducted by Library staff, partners in the Wilmington Archive Project, and other project volunteers. The topics covered in the interviews include campus politics and student activism in Delaware (particularly through the Students for Democratic Society chapter at the University of Delaware campus), reactions to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination, the National Guard occupation of Wilmington, and political and social actions related to civil rights, the 1968 presidential campaign, resistance to America's involvement in Vietnam, and other aspects of life in Delaware.

UD HIST 268 students and their professor, Dr. Roger Horowitz, conducted 25 interviews in this collection, with participants drawn from two principal communities: African American alumni of the UD and residents of the New London Road/Cleveland Avenue neighborhood in Newark, Delaware.