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College of Liberal Arts and Sciences University of Florida

Projects

SPOHP’s projects bring oral history to life through fieldwork, digitization, community partnerships, and student training. In addition to stewarding a major archive, SPOHP regularly conducts oral histories and works with students, scholars, and community partners across Florida and the Southeast to document lived experience, preserve historical knowledge, and make these stories accessible. The projects below reflect some of the program’s major ongoing areas of work, from documenting contemporary community life to preserving important legacy recordings for future use. 

Healers Oral History Project (HOPE)

The Healers Oral History Project documents healing traditions, health-related knowledge, and the experiences of practitioners and community members in North Central Florida, with a particular focus on communities in Alachua County.  

Art of Aging Oral History Project (AOAP)

The Art of Aging Oral History Project collects life histories with retirees and older adults, preserving reflections on aging, memory, work, family, and community. Through these interviews, the project highlights the experiences and perspectives of elders whose stories offer insight into both personal lives and broader social change. 

SPOHP at 60

Launching in 2027, this anniversary initiative will document and share the history of the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program as it marks six decades of oral history at the University of Florida. Through archival research, oral histories, and public-facing programming, the project will reflect on SPOHP’s legacy while helping introduce its work to new audiences. 

Veterans Oral History Project

SPOHP’s Veterans Oral History Project documents the experiences of Florida veterans across multiple conflicts and eras, preserving stories of military service, sacrifice, and life after war. This work is part of SPOHP’s longstanding partnership with the Library of Congress Veterans History Project. 

University of Florida Leadership Digitization Project (UFL)

The University of Florida Leadership Digitization Project is a major preservation and access initiative focused on SPOHP’s oldest legacy recordings related to UF history. Supported in part by a three-year Provost commitment, the project is digitizing interviews with university presidents, deans, faculty, staff, and students in order to preserve and expand access to these significant historical resources.