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Samuel Proctor Oral History Program

 Announcements & News

Digital Humanities Coordinator Receives 2015 Peace Helmet Award from Gainesville Veterans for Peace

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Happy New Year, SPOHP’ers! We have some wonderful news to share: Gainesville’s chapter of Veterans For Peace recently honored SPOHP’s Digital Humanities Coordinator, Ms. Deborah Hendrix, with the coveted Peace Helmet Award at December’s Winter Solstice Concert. 2015 Peace Helmet Award for Ms. Deborah Hendrix: Deborah Hendrix is known in Gainesville as the People’s Videographer. She […]

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“La voz de experiencia: The voice of experience” Fall 2015 Documentary with SPN 3948 Now Available

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Immigrants come to the United States for many reasons, for economic, political, and family reasons. Hence, they should not be viewed and a single entity, since each one has different circumstances and distinct goals. Some come legally and with economic resources, others do not. Some have university degrees, some are illiterate. There are those who […]

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Representing SPOHP at the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall Exhibit in The Villages

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Volunteers from the “Village Squad” of the Veterans History Project recently attended the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall exhibit at The Villages in November 2015. Tabling to represent the VHP collection, volunteers spoke with veterans and their families to encourage interviewees to become involved in the oral history project, including Michael Garrity, pictured below. The Vietnam Traveling […]

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Nov. 12, Moviendo Fronteras: Soy Quien Soy, Immigrant Voices

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Join LDAP as we listen to and discuss immigration stories from our archives at the Institute of Hispanic-Latino Cultures, Thursday, November 12, at 1:00 p.m. Why do Latin Americans immigrate to the United States? What are some of the myths surrounding immigrants and their journey? Do you or your family members have a story about your […]

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9/24, Black and Brown Solidarity in An Age of Warfare

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Join the Institute of Black Culture, Institute of Hispanic and Latino Cultures, and the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program for a thought-provoking discussion on relationships between African Americans and Latinx communities. The century between the 1820s and 1920s was an era of near-constant warfare, imperialism and a resurgence of racism. How did African Americans and people in Latin America […]

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OHA Recognizes Freedom Summer Oral History and Library Curation Project with Elizabeth B. Mason Small Project Award

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The Oral History Association (OHA), the national professional organization for oral history practitioners, will honor the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program and George A. Smathers Libraries Mississippi Freedom Summer Oral History and Library Curation Project this October with the Elizabeth B. Mason Small Project Award at its annual meeting in Tampa, Florida. The conference will be held October 14-18 at the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel.

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UF School of Theatre and Dance to Stage Encore Performance of “Gator Tales” at 2015 Oral History Association Annual Meeting in Tampa

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On Thursday, October 15, 2015, an encore performance of “Gator Tales” will be performed at the Oral History Association Annual Meeting at the Tampa Bay History Center in Tampa, Florida.

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Like a bird, like a plane…it’s SPOHP! with Tuskegee Airman Daniel Keel

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The Veterans History Project (VHP) and Alachua County African-American History Project (AAHP) were high up in the sky this week with Mr. Daniel Keel, who served as a Tuskegee Airman in World War II! Check out photos of the interview and 1942 Vultee BT-13 Valiant flight, piloted by Chris Hoefli, a B-52 pilot and Iraq War veteran. […]

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SPOHP Releases “Addiction in American Life” Transcripts and Podcasts

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Gainesville, FL— “Addiction in American Life” resources are now available from the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program (SPOHP) online at the University of Florida Digital Collections. The transcripts and podcasts are the result of a semester’s work by SPOHP’s Spring 2015 undergraduate internship class to explore historians’ understanding of the complex phenomenon of addiction. SPOHP students conducted […]

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Retired Faculty of UF Oral History Project Tells the Story of UF

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In Spring 2014, SPOHP embarked on a new oral history collaboration with the Retired Faculty of the University of Florida (RFUF) to highlight the individuals who oversaw UF’s rise to a tier-1 institution. Retired faculty and administrators were asked to reflect on the reciprocal relationship between UF, the region, the state and the nation. This […]

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“Stetson Kennedy’s America,” lecture by Dr. Paul Ortiz at the Civic Media Center, Now Available Online

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The Civic Media Center in Gainesville, Florida, is the repository for many of the late Stetson Kennedy’s books. Dr. Paul Ortiz discusses Stetson Kennedy’s life and legacy, and is joined by Sandra Parks Kennedy, wife of Stetson Kennedy, as she remembers her husband’s life.

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“First Generation American: The Children of Spanish American Immigrants” Spring 2015 Documentary with SPN 3948 Now Available Online

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Students interviewed four young people who have lived the experience of being a First Generation American, aiming to understand what their life is like at home, what their vision of the world is, and how they construct their identity from two or more cultures. A video documentary by the students of SPN 3948 Service Learning, Spring of […]

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Jody Noll is SPOHP’s 2015 Julian Pleasants Travel Award Scholar

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Gainesville, FL—The Samuel Proctor Oral History Program congratulates Jody Noll, Ph.D. student at Georgia State University, on his receipt of SPOHP’s 2015 Julian Pleasants Travel Award. Noll is writing his doctoral dissertation about the 1968 Florida Teachers Strike, and will use the award to conduct oral histories and explore resources in the P.K. Yonge Library […]

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SPOHP and Cone Park Library Partner for Special Emancipation Day Program May 20, 2015

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Gainesville, FL—The Samuel Proctor Oral History Program (SPOHP) in conjunction with the Cone Park Library will be hosting a special Emancipation Day program at the Cone Park Library on Wednesday, May 20, 2015 from 2:30-4:00 pm.  The program is designed for children ages K-6 but is open to all. During the program, attendees will learn […]

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Congratulations to LDAP on “Sin Complejos, Sin Arrepentimientos y Sin Pedir Perdón: Resistance, Respect & Regrowth!”

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Coordinated by Génesis Lara, LDAP grew this year through an extraordinary effort focusing on community building and education, and students celebrated with a public event on April 24. Click to view the LDAP documentary, edited by Deborah Hendrix.

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February 27, 2015, A Tale of Three, Female Activists: Women in the Civil Rights Movement Panel at the Museum of Florida History

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On February 27, 2015, as Black History Month was coming to a close and the eve of International Women’s History Month was approaching, Dr. Ortiz, several SPHOP coordinators and SPOHP’s official event photographer, Mr. Clayton, visited the “Civil Rights in the Sunshine State” Exhibit at the Museum of Florida History in Tallahassee.

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Congratulations to Allison Mitchell, SPOHP’s Student Volunteer of the Quarter for Fall 2014!

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Allison Mitchell, who was a volunteer for the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program during the Fall 2014 Semester, is a second year dual major in History and African American Studies at the University of Florida. During this term she spent several hours filling in audio logs as well as transcribing. Allison learned about volunteering when […]

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Congratulations to Sandy Burnett, SPOHP’s Community Volunteer of the Quarter for Fall 2014!

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Sandy Burnett, who has volunteered for the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program for over a year, was initially recruited by Veterans History Project Coordinator Ann Smith to assist SPOHP’s Digital Humanities Coordinator Deborah Hendrix with a variety of clerical activities: labeling DVD’s, archival storage, mailing oral histories to interviewees, adding to deed of gifts, etc.  Whatever […]

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Now Available: “The More Things Change, The More They Remain the Same: Race in America” with Dr. Bill Chafe

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The lecture, delivered by Dr. Chafe at the February 5 public program, is now available on YouTube. Dr. Chafe is the Alice Mary Baldwin Professor of History at Duke University, where his research focuses on gender and racial equality in the United States.

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

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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 […]

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

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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 […]

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Staged Reading: “Threads of Silver and Gold – Women of the Panama Canal” on Feb. 20

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Playwright and director Deborah B. Dickey has created a play in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Panama Canal. Threads of Silver and Gold: Women of the Panama Canal looks at the role of women who arrived from the West Indies, England and the United States during the construction period of the canal. The […]

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“Historical Research Reaching a Peak” on History@UF, The Official Blog of the UF History Department

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Dr. Jack Davis highlighted SPOHP’s recent research trip to North Carolina for the Appalachian Social Change Project, organized by graduate coordinator Jessica Taylor and Dr. Scott Huffard of Lees-McRae College, assistant professor of history and UF alum.

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

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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 […]

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Black History Month Events at the Museum of Florida History to feature John Due & Zohara Simmons

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TALLAHASSEE— The Museum of Florida History is hosting public programs throughout February to celebrate Black History Month. The programs complement the current exhibit in the Museum, Civil Rights in the Sunshine State. This special exhibit is a collaborative effort of the Museum and civil rights leaders and institutions from around the state. Many of the […]

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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 […]

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UF in Selma: 50 Years Later with the Daniel Harmeling Papers

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by Justin Dunnavant, AAHP Graduate Coordinator This year marks the 50th anniversary of the infamous march in Selma, Alabama and with the recent release of the movie “Selma,” we thought it would be appropriate to compile a digital exhibit highlighting the connections between UF and the Selma march. The following articles and images from the […]

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Celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: “Keep Your Trash” on the Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike of 1968, Now on UFDC

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Award-winning PBS documentarian Churchill Roberts was a doctoral student at the University of Iowa in 1971 when he produced the first documentary film recounting events of the historic 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers strike and assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Four decades after its original release, “Keep Your Trash” is now newly digitized and […]

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University Gallery at 50: The Roy Craven Legacy, Gallery Founder and Longest Standing Director

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Digital Humanities Coordinator Deborah Hendrix produced an interview documentary on Roy’s Craven’s remarkable legacy for the 50th Anniversary Commemoration, taking place this January. The Samuel Proctor Oral History Program interviewed Roy Craven in 1992 about his career at the University of Florida for the university-wide oral history collection, currently archived with the interview UF-207 in the University of […]

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SPOHP, Lees-McRae Form Partnership for Appalachian Oral History Field Research Event

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Gainesville, FL—On February 5, 2015, UF CLAS undergraduate and graduate students will leave for Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, North Carolina in the company of staff from the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program. Their ultimate destination is the Stephenson Center for Appalachia, Lees-McRae’s unique institute for the study of mountain life and history. Eight students […]

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Congratulations to the Fall 2014 Latina/o Diaspora in the Americas Class!

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Students in the seminar class presented “Familias Unidas: Amor y Comunidad,” their community development plan for the immigrant community of Gainesville, on December 11 at the Institute for Hispanic-Latino Cultures. The class was taught by Dr. Paul Ortiz and instructor Génesis Lara. “Familias Unidas: Amor y Comunidad,” December 11, 2014 During the spring, the class will continue in […]

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College of Journalism and Communications Students Share Oral Histories with Visual Storytelling Web Applications

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SPOHP Q&A

It only took an hour for College of Journalism and Communications undergrads taking part in an exercise during their Visual Journalism class to make history by setting a campus precedent: they were the first to ever create stories using visual storytelling web-based applications to share oral history interviews from the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program’s archives. The […]

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Remembering Dr. Hernán Vera, Professor Emeritus of Sociology

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A native of Chile, Dr. Hernán Vera, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, passed away last week. He was a prolific scholar in research spanning a range of topics, including race and ethnic relations and sociology of knowledge. A native of Chile, he received his PhD in Sociology from the University of Kansas in 1974. His co-authored books […]

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Fall 2014 Internship Class Podcasts (coordinated by Jessica Taylor and Matthew Simmons): Veterans History

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Fall 2014 interns produced podcasts on veterans history. Image from Stephen Dodd, donated to the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program. University of Florida Digital Collections Archive To date, 50+ oral history podcasts are available on the University of Florida’s Digital Collections website, including final projects for the entire Spring 2011, 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014 and Fall 2014, intern classes, […]

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Annual Rosa Parks Quiet Courage Awards Ceremony to Honor Gainesville Citizens, December 7

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The Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, with Rev. Milford Griner, will remember  Rosa Parks and honor local leaders with the Quiet Courage Awards on Sunday, December 7 at 3:30 p.m. Past honorees have included Andrew Mickle, Rev. Dr. T.A. Wright, Sr., and Sherry Dupree, among many others. RSVP on  Facebook Photo by Brad McClenny, The Gainesville Sun, December 1, 2013.

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Oral Histories with Veterans Transform the Ways that Interns Study American History

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Every semester, SPOHP’s interns are in some way touched by United States servicemen, past and present. Whether they transcribe a sixty-year-old recording with one of the last living Civil War veterans or talk with a former leader of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, UF undergraduates encounter the intense experiences of American veterans through oral history. […]

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Oral history festival to be held in Mathews

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“Oral history festival to be held in Mathews,” The Gloucester-Mathews Gazette-Journal, October 8, 2014. The Virginia Fieldwork in Folklore research trip, organized by SPOHP graduate coordinator Jessica Taylor, was announced by The Gloucester-Mathews Gazette-Journal, focusing on the Festival of Oral History and Folklore evening event at Mathews Memorial Library. The research trip to Virginia is supported by […]

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Oral history project underway

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“Oral history project underway,” by Sherry Hamilton, The Gloucester-Mathews Gazette-Journal, September 3, 2014. In anticipation of the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program’s annual Virginia Fieldwork in Folklore trip, The Gloucester-Mathews Gazette-Journal wrote about earlier oral histories conducted in Mathews County by SPOHP graduate coordinator Jessica Taylor. Taylor’s interviews laid the groundwork for the October trip, which was conducted in […]

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Inaugural SPOHP Folklore and History in Virginia Team to Launch in October

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Gainesville, FL—From October 21-26, 2014, UF history students will travel to eastern Virginia to discuss folklore, traditional crafts, and rural development with residents of Mathews and Middlesex Counties. The inaugural trip will feature two oral history open houses in Virginia, a methods workshop, and an interdisciplinary panel open to the public. Oral history research conducted […]

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“Preparing for the Civil Rights Movement in Florida” at Tallahassee Museum of Florida History

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On Thursday, October 16th at 6 p.m, Dr. Paul Ortiz will give a lecture titled, “Preparing for the Civil Rights Movement in Florida” and sign copies of the new edition of “Remembering Jim Crow.” This event is preparatory to the Tallahassee Museum of Florida History’s unveiling of its forthcoming exhibit on the civil rights movement […]

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