About the collection
Oral histories are personal accounts and narratives related to specific topics. Collections include recorded interviews and/or transcripts. There is also a variety of print materials related to oral history projects.
From the collection
Select bibliographies
Listed here are bibliographies of resources in Special Collections pertaining to oral history. Please note that the items listed in the bibliographies represent only a small portion of materials on oral history held in Special Collections.
Related subject guides
External resources
Veterans History Project. Library of Congress, American Folklife Center.
Digital Collections
The Iron Hill Museum oral history collection consists of 37 interviews (recorded on 58 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.
Highlights from the manuscript collection
MSS 179 Delaware Oral History, 1966-1978, 294 tapes (188 transcripts)
Holocaust Testimonies Project. Halina Wind Preston Holocaust Education Committee of the Jewish Federation of Delaware, 1989-1995; 24 interviews on 25 VHS videocassettes
MSS 488 Neala Schleuning Meridel Le Sueur Collection, 1930 - 1997; 2.3 linear ft. and 43 audio cassettes, 10 reel to reel tapes, and 2 VHS videotapes
MSS 165 Christopher Sawyer-Lauçanno Papers Related to Paul Bowles, 1946- 1989 (bulk dates 1985-1989); 2.3 linear ft.
Miscellaneous Delaware tapes
Tapes from this collection are unprocessed and not yet reformatted. Several appear to have been recorded by members of the Delaware Folklore Society, including "yarns related by Fan (or Nathaniel) Tingle of Indian River Hundred in Sussex County."
Highlights from the print collection
Beers, D. G. (Daniel G.). Atlas of the State of Delaware : from actual surveys. Philadelphia: Pomeroy & Beers, 1868, c1867 (Philadelphia : F. Bourquin). LOCATION: Special Collections Delaware FOLIO+ G1265 .B44x 1868
Delaware folklore bulletin. Newark : Institute of Delaware History and Culture, University of Delaware, 1951- . Vol. 1, no. 3, October 1952. LOCATION: Special Collections Delaware GR110 .D3 D45
Frear, J. Allen. Oral history interview with J. Allen Frear, Jr., Senator from Delaware, 1949 to 1961. Washington, D.C. : Former Members of Congress, 1979. LOCATION: Special Collections Delaware folio E840.8 .F743 M67 1979
Williams, John J. (John James), 1904-1988. Oral history interview with John J. Williams, Senator from Delaware,1947 to 1971. Washington, D.C.: Former Members of Congress, c1981. LOCATION: Special Collections Delaware folio E840.8 .W54 M67x 1981
Hìtakonanu'laxk. The grandfathers speak : native American folk tales of the Lenapé people. New York: Interlink Books, 1994. LOCATION: Special Collections Delaware E 99 .D2 H73 1994