A number of oral history projects similar to the Voices of Princeton Project have been conducted by organizations in and beyond Mercer County, NJ. The scope of Voices of Princeton is unique among these, as is the format, but in some cases the significance of a project for those interested in Princeton’s history is quite considerable. For this reason the staff involved with Voices of Princeton have brought together the following list of related projects. These related projects are organized below according to the following headings:
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, N.J.). Oral History Project
This project’s “records consist of administrative files, background research, transcripts, and audio recordings,” including “interviews and related research materials featur[ing] many of the Faculty, Directors, and broader community members of the Institute for Advanced Study. Materials date from 1950-2018.”
Princeton University
James A. Baker Oral History Collection
As the website at the link explains, this collection “[c]onsists of transcripts and audio files of interviews with individuals who knew and worked closely with James A. Baker III during his career in politics and public service.”
The LGBTQIA Oral History Project invites Princeton University students to interview LGBTQIA alumni and current and former LGBTQIA staff and faculty to learn about their experiences being LGBTQIA (out and not out) at Princeton.
Department of Mathematics Oral History Project
Abbreviated from the website: “The 1930s saw the flowering of a unique mathematical community at Princeton University with the construction of a luxurious new building Fine Hall (now Jones Hall)…designed to facilitate a real community of mathematicians engaged in research. In 1984, Albert Tucker, a former mathematics department chair at Princeton, was motivated by Princetonian historian of science Charles Gillispie to capture some of the personal reminiscences of the remaining survivors of the period on tape himself with the help of William Aspray, which were then transcribed and organized into a body of written transcripts by then graduate student Rik Nebeker.”
“The Brave Voices Project is a multimedia project that strives to highlight the experiences of alumni of color who graduated from Princeton University between the years 1990 and 2018. In the summer of 2018, the Carl A. Fields interns interviewed over 30 alumni of color from all over the country and collected their stories.”
PU Oral History Project on Religion and Resettlement
“The Oral History Project on Religion and Resettlement is a growing archive of interviews with refugees, former refugees, and asylees in the United States whose religious and spiritual lives have been consequential to their journey, resettlement, and integration.”
The Heirloom Gardens Oral HIstory Project
“The Heirloom Gardens Oral History Project is a collaboration of Princeton University, Spelman College, and the Ujamaa Cooperative Farming Alliance to collect oral histories of people who have worked to preserve Black and Indigenous seed and foodways through the Southeastern United States and Appalachia.”
Mercer County
Hopewell Valley Historical Society Oral History Project
Available only in person at the Hopewell Branch of the Mercer County Library system. “By 1977 several of [the Historical Society’s] members began recording oral histories from longtime area residents on cassette tape. In 2003 Noel Goeke began his term as the society’s president and had the old recordings remastered onto fresh cassette tapes and later transcribed. Intrigued by the fascinating details and stories captured in these histories, he and other society volunteers restarted the HVHS Oral History Project.”
Hurricane Sandy Oral History Project at The College of New Jersey
“The Hurricane Sandy Oral History Project aims to preserve the memories of people whose lives have been affected by the storm and its aftermath.”
New Jersey
Battleship New Jersey Oral History
“The interviews in this collection are of U.S. military veterans, providing first hand accounts of and stories from their experiences during the wars in which they served.”
Center for U.S. War Veterans’ Oral History Program
“The National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey is the home of the Center for U.S. War Veterans’ Oral History Project. It is the Center’s mission to collect and preserve the memories of veterans through recorded oral history interviews.”
Changes Lives: New Jersey Remembers September 11, 2001
From the New Jersey Historical Society: “This collection includes newspaper clippings, memorial programs, oral histories, music, art, literature, photographs, and many other items related to the events of September 11, 2001.”
Latino Oral Histories: Latino Life Stories
The Newark Public Library and the New Jersey Hispanic Research & Information Center brought together these fifteen oral histories of leaders from New Jersey’s Latino community. “The interviews contain a wealth of information on the early history of Latino communities throughout the state and the founding of several important Hispanic organizations during the second half of the twentieth century.”
Hosted at Legal Services of New Jersey’s New Jersey Equal Justice Library and Archive, the collection brings together video interviews of “those who began their service in the early period of the 1960s and 1970s.”
“In 2007-2008, our teen volunteers and teen librarian interviewed military veterans from several different wars and eras, World War II among them. […] For some of the veterans, it was the first time they’d shared their service experiences.” Each interview also features service photos together with current photos of the veterans.
StoryCorps collaborated with the New Brunswick Free Public Library in October 2007 to help capture an oral history of New Brunswick. Select audio clips are available on the website, but the 10 full interviews may be accessed in person at the New Brunswick Free Public Library.
NJ Greek American Oral Histories Project
“The Pappas Interdisplinary Center for Hellenic Studies at Stockton University, with the support and collaboration of the Friends of Hellenic Studies, […] [w]orking also in collaboration with the Stockton History Department’s Oral History Project, […] is committed to providing a professional-quality oral history archive for the Greek-American community.” Centered upon the Greek communities of Atlantic City and South Jersey.
New Jersey Supreme Court Oral History Project
Seven video interviews with NJ Supreme Court Justices, as well as additional interviews from the Eagleton Institute of Politics, document the history of the NJ Supreme Court.
Oral History Project at Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park
“The goal of the Oral History Project at Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park is to connect with the people who grew up in, lived, and worked in and around the City of Paterson.” Supported by the National Park Service.
“Our Land, Our Stories, a collaborative project with Rutgers University, Department of Landscape Architecture and the Ramapough Lunaape Nation, is a multimedia project for environmental justice advocacy and curriculum development for Native American history and contemporary Indigenous land relations. […] Materials include the Our Land, Our Stories book, The Meaning of the Seed documentary film, traveling exhibits, short video projects on our YouTube channel, social media platforms, and this digital exhibit for Rutgers University Libraries.”
Queer Newark Oral History Project
The Queer Newark Oral History Project (QNOHP) records interviews with LGBTQ Newarkers about their lives, makes their stories accessible to academic and community-based researchers, students, and artists; sponsors innovative programming that bridges the community and campus, spreads awareness of oral history methods, and commemorates the community’s elders.
Remembering the 20th Century: An Oral History of Monmouth County
“In January of 1999, The Monmouth County Library began a project to observe the turning of the century. [The Planning Committee] hoped to interview about one hundred persons who had lived a significant part of their lives in Monmouth County.”
Excerpts are featured at the website; full interviews are available in-person at the Ridgewood Public Library’s Bolger Heritage Center: “The Ridgewood Centennial Celebration Committee (in 1994) and Project New Century (in 2002) interviewed long-time residents to record their memories.”
Rutgers Oral History Archives (ROHA)
“Since 1994, the Rutgers Oral History Archives (ROHA) has been recording the life narratives of: alumni and/or New Jersey residents who served during times of conflict; people with a story to tell about New Jersey’s rich social and cultural history; and men and women who helped shape the history of Rutgers University.”
Words of Woodbridge Oral History Project
Hosted by the Woodbridge Public Library, this project collects “memories of Woodbridge Seniors as they recall their childhoods and changes they witnessed in the Township over the 20th century. […] The Woodbridge Township Oral History archive is made up of two collections; oral histories collection by Councilwoman Brenda Velasco from 2008 through the present and interviews conducted by CETA volunteers in the 1970s.”