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Visit the new Cotton Club Museum and relive history!

The Cotton Club site consists of the Cotton Club/Blue Note (often referred to as the Hall), the Perryman Grocery Store, and four shot-gun houses. All of the buildings are on the 1950 Sanborn Map in their current locations. The CCMCC project aims to restore for adaptive use all six buildings, creating a heritage tourism destination that will provide a glimpse of African American life during the period of racial segregation in the United States.

SPOHP Contributes Travel Support for OHA Conference Attendees from Hurricane-Affected Areas

The OHA’s Day of Giving last year raised money for scholarships to fund travel to the Annual OHA Conference for those in hurricane-affected areas. With matching funds provided by the Chao Center for Asian Studies at Rice University and the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at the University of Florida, the OHA was able to […]

Home Away from Home: Remembering Refugees in Florida

Welcoming Gainesville and Alachua County and the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at the University of Florida are holding a public event titled “Home Away from Home: Remembering Refugees in Florida” on September 20, 2018 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm at Pugh Hall Ocora (296 Buckman Drive Gainesville FL 32611). The event will feature the oral history of refugees in Jacksonville, Florida, collected by Seyeon Hwang, a doctoral student in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Florida, and various state-wide and national efforts in refugee advocacy, followed by a talk-back session with refugees and refugee resettlement professionals from Florida.

Check Out Our Students’ Reflections On Our Annual Mississippi Freedom Trip

Check out these reflections our students wrote just after their successful and exciting trips doing oral history fieldwork in the Mississippi Delta as part of our Mississippi Freedom Project! The Mississippi Freedom Project (MFP) is an award-winning archive of 200+ oral history interviews conducted with veterans of the civil rights movement and notable residents of […]

Commemorating Black and Brown Wednesday

As we work diligently on our documentary project on the history of Institute of Black Culture and Institute of Hispanic and Latino Affairs, today we commemorate the one-year anniversary of Black and Brown Wednesday, a historical moment at the University of Florida. On July 12, 2017, No La IBCita and their supporters, protested the proposal […]

Interested in gaining research experience? Fascinated by eyewitness history? We’re looking for volunteers!

The Samuel Proctor Oral History Program,which is one of the premiere oral history programs in the United States, houses over 500 oral history interviews within the African American History Project (AAHP). Join us in preparing for the unveiling of this collection, which will take place in Pugh Hall on March 21, 2019. Through participating in […]

Our Summer B Intro to Oral History Course Will Focus on FL Farmworker History

Summer B 2018, July 2 – August 10 AMH 3593: Introduction to Oral History Course Overview This course will introduce students to the theories and methods of oral history. Oral history is an important methodological approach to documenting the past which allows historians to engage directly with narrators who share their life experiences touching on […]

From Colored to Black: The Stories of North Central Florida

We will be sharing nine dramatic vignettes created by our students and performed by members of the local theatre community with our performance, “From Colored to Black: The Stories of North Central Florida,” at the Harn Museum of Art‘s Museum Nights this Thursday night! The performance, a partnership with Actors’ Warehouse, Inc., will take place 6:00-7:00PM in […]

“Voices From The March” Students Fundraise to Perform at SOHA Conference

After headlining the 2018 UF Social Justice Summit this past January Voices from the March will be traveling to California this April to perform at the Southwest Oral History Association Annual Conference, hosted at California State University, Fullerton! Please help us raise money to assist in covering the travel and lodging costs for our cast. We have been working […]

Art of Aging

In the summer of 2017 SPOHP partnered with UF College of Medicine, to develop an oral history segment for the Geriatrics Medicine Clerkship, a required rotation for all 4th year medical students that Dr. Otto directs. SPOHP’s Ryan Thompson took on leadership for its half of the partnership. This marked the beginning of another significant […]

Our Year-End Journal is Available Now

Dear Friends of the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program, As you will read in this exciting end-of- year progress report, SPOHP has reached more students, scholars, and members of the general public than ever. We have conducted community-based oral history workshops with churches, businesses, university classes, veteran’s groups, African American history museums, Native American nations […]

Telling Gainesville: A Film Screening

Please join military veterans and their families for a special Veterans Day film screening of the play “Telling Gainesville.” Telling Gainesville is part of a nationwide initiative by the National Endowment for the Humanities that connects civilian audiences with veterans in a creative, supportive environment. “Telling Gainesville” ran to standing-room- only audiences at the Actor’s […]

Voices from the March: A Multi-Media Experience

On January 27th, our Fall interns and staff will be performing an original multi-media play titled Voices from the March at the 2018 UF Social Justice Summit. A collaboration between the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program and the Center for Women’s Studies, this verbatim theater piece compiles oral history narratives from the Women’s March on Washington as […]

Black and Latinx History of the Gator Nation: Spring 2018 Course

AFA 4931: A BLACK AND LATINXHISTORY OF THE GATOR NATION This upcoming Spring, the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program is offering a oral history methods course course called Black and Latinx History of the Gator Nation. Students enrolled in this course in Spring 2018 (MWF 5th) will create new archives on Black and Latinx history […]

Spring 2018 Internship: The Jacob Lawrence Project

This semester-long academic internship is available to graduate and undergraduate students for credit. In partnership with the Harn Museum, SPOHP, and The Actors’ Warehouse Community Theater, interns will develop an original site-specific performance by exploring connections between archived oral history interviews with Black residents of North Central Florida and iconic artwork by Jacob Lawrence (harn.ufl.edu/jacoblawrence). […]

Farmworkers Irma Relief

Gainesville residents and UF community: there are ways to help the Immokalee community by dropping off goods at multiple on-campus locations. Items will be transported to Immokalee first on September 23, and then again in two weeks. #HurricaneIrmaRelief A list of items includes: Charcoal Lighters Diapers Baby wipes Bug spray Underwear Socks Tarps Non-perishable or canned […]

Florida Queer History: A Pride Extravaganza

The Samuel Proctor Oral History Program (SPOHP)’s Florida Queer History Project is partnering with First Magnitude Brewing Company to bring you “A Pride Extravaganza” on October 15! The event will serve as a fundraiser for SPOHP’s Florida Queer History Project, which will be exhibiting a portrait and oral history interview series from their June 2017 […]

Mississippi Freedom Fieldwork Panel Sept. 27

Mississippi Freedom Fieldwork Panel Presentation Ustler Hall Wednesday, Sept. 27th 3:00 PM On Wednesday the 27th the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program will host a panel of students to discuss their experience interviewing in Mississippi. This panel celebrates SPOHP’s 10th year of sending students out to the Mississippi Delta region to interview those involved in […]

“Surviving & Resisting: Defending DACA A Toolkit For DREAMers.”

We wanted to share a sheet that the directors of the IC-Race (Immigration, Critical Race and Cultural Equity) Lab at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Drs. Nayeli Y. Chavez- Dueñas and Hector Y. Adames developed, “Surviving & Resisting: Defending DACA A Toolkit For DREAMers.” Please share widely with anyone who may benefit from this toolkit; the […]

SPOHP Open House Scheduled for Sept. 29

September 29th from noon to 2 PM, SPOHP is hosting an Open House in the SPOHP office to welcome students and faculty alike to get acquainted with our program, staff and dozens of exciting on going projects. Visitors can expect to enjoy refreshments as they learn about SPOHP’s fieldwork, internships, and volunteer opportunities as well as our many upcoming public […]

SPOHP Intern at the Defend DACA/Save TPS Rally at Orlando City Hall

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SPOHP intern Chelsey Hendry Simmons attended the Defend DACA/Save TPS Rally at Orlando City Hall. The rally was held just one hour after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Trump Administration would be rescinding DACA, the Obama-era executive order protecting over 800,000 undocumented immigrants who entered the United States as children from deportation. The […]

MCDA’s Anti-Racism Education Week

MCDA is proud to present: Anti-Racism Education Week. Come join us as we engage in an event series on anti-racism education, self-care, and education on the first amendment. This is a great opportunity to interact with faculty, staff, and peers on how to challenge racism and bigotry on our campus and in our community. TUESDAY […]

SPOHP is Sponsoring this Years Latino Film Festival!

“Since 2005, the Gainesville Latino Film Festival has featured hundreds of groundbreaking, highly acclaimed and thought-provoking films from Latin America. In 2017, our mission continues: to afford Gainesville the unique opportunity to see world-class cinema, innovative shorts, international award winners, and foster diverse experiences that link people through the art of cinema- launching Gainesville as a cultural […]

Jeffrey Pufahl To Transform Interviews from the Women’s March on Washington Trip into a Play

We are thrilled to announce that our 2017-2018 visiting scholar is Jeffrey Pufahl, joining us from the UF College of the Arts (UF Center for Arts in Medicine). Currently, he is building on an existing partnership between SPOHP and the UF Center for Gender, Sexualities, and Women’s Studies Research, to help students translate their collected research and interviews […]

Welcoming Gainesville Fall 2017 Civic Engagement Internship

Welcoming Gainesville is partnering with the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at UF to offer academic internships in using history to inform the creation of  programs aimed at combating prejudice, building a climate of welcome and support for immigrants, refugees, and international students, and helping them integrate into the local community. Interns will work directly […]

SPOHP Sponsoring the Jacob Lawrence Workshop

SPOHP is sponsoring a Jacob Lawrence workshop at the Harn Museum June 24th at 12:30PM, featuring a discussion of Jacob Lawrence’s life and work, and upcoming exhibition, “History, Labor, Life: The Prints of Jacob Lawrence.” This exhibition provides a comprehensive overview of influential American artist Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000). Lawrence was primarily concerned with the narration of […]

The Samuel Proctor Oral History Program’s Summer 2017 Newsletter

50 Years of Collaboration “From participating in interviews, to engaging with the collection, to attending SPOHP’s events, the public is the lifeforce behind SPOHP’s past, present, and future.” -Dr. Paul Ortiz This jubilee year, SPOHP wants to reflect, say thank you and plan for the future. Thanks to our supporters, SPOHP has had one of its most productive […]

Spring 2017 Internship Class Podcasts: Civic Engagement

With the help of coordinators Raja Rahim and Ryan Thompson, the Spring 2017 interns produced podcasts about Civic Engagement at the University of Florida. University of Florida Digital Collections Archive To date, 90+ oral history podcast pieces are available on the University of Florida’s Digital Collections website, including final projects for internship classes, as well as […]

Big News: We’re On the Air!

Beginning Thursday, March 16th, the SPOHP Radio Hour hits the airwaves DAILY at 8:00 a.m. on WUBA 88.1 FM. Drawing from the 7,500+ interviews in the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program archive at the University of Florida, the SPOHP Radio Hour will air daily at 8 am on WUBA 88.1 FM with fascinating stories on people from all walks […]

Documenting the Ethnic Studies Struggle through Oral History Field Work Trip: A Collaboration between Prescott College and the University of Florida

Press Release For Immediate Release Documenting the Ethnic Studies Struggle through Oral History Field Work Trip: A Collaboration between Prescott College and the University of Florida February 26, 2015, Throughout February 28 – March 8, 2015, students, staff and faculty from the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program (SPOHP) at the University of Florida will be visiting […]

March 5 Tucson Ethnic Studies Research Trip Panel Event: “Documenting the Ethnic Studies Struggles through Oral History” at Prescott College

Press Release For Immediate Release February 13, 2015, On March 5, 2015 at the Western Institute for Leadership Development at 6:00pm Prescott College and Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at the University of Florida will present the panel Documenting the Ethnic Studies Struggles through Oral History: A Conversation between Prescott College and the University of […]

UF School of Theatre and Dance Presents “Gator Tales” in February 2015 with Alachua County African American History Project

From February 13 to 22, the UF School of Theatre and Dance will perform a new drama entitled Gator Tales, an original play devised and directed by Professor Kevin Marshall in conjunction with the UF Samuel Proctor Oral History Program (SPOHP). This is the first time that interviews from the SPOHP collection have been adapted […]

The Villages Squad: Veterans History Project Volunteers in Wildwood, Florida

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by Ann Smith, Veterans History Project Coordinator In early 2014, SPOHP Veteran’s Coordinator Ann Smith gathered the volunteers for the Veterans History Project group for a fact-to-face meeting. Ms. Smith’s talk at this meeting inspired Mike Parker to become interested in conducting interviews for the Veteran’s History Project of the Library of Congress, where SPOHP regularly submits […]

Gainesville 8 Reunion Celebrates Acquittal of Anti-War Activist Veterans on 40th Anniversary

Gainesville, FL—August 31, 2013 marked the fortieth anniversary of the acquittal of seven Vietnam War veterans and one supporter indicted for conspiracy to violently disrupt the 1972 Republican National Convention. The trial and Gainesville’s role in the peace movement gained national attention when charges were filed against seven activist veterans and one supporter organizing through […]