last modified:2008-01-24 13:12:50
Current Oral History Projects
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Collecting and transcribing oral histories has been a major component of the Center's work over the years. Our current projects are listed above.
Past Oral History Projects
Doris Duke Indian Oral History Project
Between 1968 and 1972, the Center collected 1500 interviews from forty-two different tribes or groups. The interviews are now housed at the Special Collections division of the Marriott Library, the largest repository of such interviews in the country.
Ethnic Oral History Collection
Throughout its history, the Center has been dedicated to preserving the history of Utah's ethnic minorities. As part of this effort, Center staff have gathered oral histories from members of various ethnic groups within Utah. Hispanic, Italian, Yugoslavian, Greek, and Black citizens of the state are included within this collection. In the future, interviews with Utah's Pacific community will supplement this already extensive collection.
The Tesuque Place Names and Land Use Project
Conducted in 1993-94, this project established land use patterns by learning the place names and the historical uses of the land through interviews with the elders of the Pueblo. The center then created large maps derived from the information gained through the interviews to show Tesuque Pueblo's historic land use.
Ute Mountain Ute Land Use Project
In 1990, the Center conducted oral interviews to establish historical land use patterns for the tribe. This project resulted in maps illustrating the findings, which were provided to the tribe.
Golden Spike Oral History Project
In the 1970s, Gregory C. Thompson and Philip F. Notorianni collected oral histories regarding the completion of the railroad and the influence of the railroad on Utah.
Allen Canyon Oral History Project
In the 1970s, Elders of the White Mesa Utes were interviewed about the Allen Canyon allotments and the living conditions within the canyon before the establishment of the White Mesa Reservation for that band of Utes.
Japanese Project
The American West Center gathered a small number of oral histories from Japanese immigrants. The Center then contracted with UCLA to gain access to more interviews from a similar project there.
Coal and Uranium Miner Interviews
American Indian Collection
The Tohono O'odham History Project
The Shoshone-Bannoack Historical Resource Project