Welcome to the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program
FALL 2009 SEMINAR
ENC3254 Writing in Oral History
This is an interdisciplinary course in which students are challenged to think about the relationships between community and history. LEARN MORE
SPOHP NEWS ONLINE
HISTORY SPEAKS NEWSLETTER
SUMMER 2009
SPRING 2009
PODCASTS
SPOHP's podcasts are now available on iTunes.
LISTEN NOW and subscribe!
For the time being, you can still access our podcasts on the Proctor Podcast page. This page will be phased out in the near future.
MOST RECENT EPISODE:
Clair Chaffin on WW II
LISTEN NOW to SPOHP Director Paul Ortiz speaking about his own experiences conducting oral histories on UCF's Public History Podcast.
EVENTS
June 6
SPOHP had a table setup at Camp Blanding in Starke as part of the Army's tribute to the 65th anniversary of the D-Day Invasion, which took place on June 6, 1944. Upcoming story in the Fall 2009 newsletter issue of History Speaks.
June 13
Even though Flag Day is officially June 14, the VFW on Waldo Road commemorated the event on Saturday, June 13. As part of the tribute, one of Gainesville's most prominent veterans, Clair C. Chaffin, was honored for his services to the local veterans community, as well as on the national level. Mr. Chaffin was tragically killed on June 8. In SPOHP's "Testimony of War" public program in November 2008, Mr. Chaffin was one of the guest panelists who spoke of his duties as a corpsman on Saipan, Tinian, and Iwo Jima. See our tribute to Clair Chaffin, as well as an article in the Spring 2009 SPOHP online newsletter (pp. 6-7).
CONFERENCES
October 14-18, 2009 SPOHP has been selected to present a panel discussion at the annual Oral History Association Conference, which will be held this year in Louisville, Kentucky. The topic of the panel will be: "How to Produce a Low Budget Documentary: Giving Life to Death in Time of War."
One Community. Many Voices.
SPOHP Historian Diane Fischler Featured in Jacksonville News
Diane and Ira Fischler represented SPOHP at Camp Blanding for the 65th anniversary commemoration of D-Day this past Saturday to emphasize the importance of capturing veterans' oral histories and SPOHP's commitment to the veteran community. Diane was interviewed at the event by Vic Micoluci with WJXT TV in Jacksonville.
Watch Video
SPOHP Podcasts Commemorated Memorial Day, D-Day, Flag Day.
The Samuel Proctor Oral History Program is proud to announce four new podcasts for Memorial Day. In their own unique ways, these interviewees reflect upon the meaning of war and remembrance of the past. Although these lives began in different places and have taken different paths, they were all deeply affected by the experience of living during wartime. We chose to focus exclusively on WW II for three reasons.
First, as evidenced by our films, public events, and constant interviewing, we have a strong and ongoing commitment to the preservation of memories of this war. Our growing collection contains mostly interviews with veterans, but in recent months we have broadened our focus to include war brides, service women, nurses, and ordinary civilians.
Second, scholars are currently debating the social impact of WW II. War casts a long shadow on the societies that lived through it, and this statement certainly applies to the aftermath of the first truly global war. Historians have yet to decide upon the extent and nature of these changes, but these kinds of oral histories will certainly contribute to this important debate.
Third, these interviews are compelling. The scope and intensity of WW II rendered powerful memories, many of which will surprise, enlighten, and move listeners. While listening to these interviews, one might ask how it is possible to describe that which is beyond description? Further, how are the lives of survivors shaped by the experience of war?
It is our hope that these interviewees represent the spirit of Memorial Day, as both a day of reckoning with the past and a day of hope for the future. (To access our podcasts, click on the links in the upper right column.)
View this May 22 InsideUF article on more of our commemorative activities.
COMING SOON TO A TV NEAR YOU!
On August 17, PBS’s popular “History Detectives” series will feature SPOHP Director Paul Ortiz being interviewed this past March by “History Detective” Tukufu Zuberi at Morningside Nature Center. Dr. Ortiz provided leads to
Dr. Zuberi on tracking down information on a black settler, Harvey McLeod, in Alachua County in the late 1870s. McLeod was involved with the Back to Africa Movement after Reconstruction had ended in Florida. Please see the article on the production of this investigation in SPOHP’s online History Speaks newsletter, Summer 2009 edition (pages 6-7). Check your TV listings for time of broadcast. (Above photo by Diane Fischler)
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LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR
Welcome to the online home of the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at the University of Florida! We are one of the premier oral history programs in the country. Our team of dedicated staff, students, and volunteers strive to make histories of Florida and the broader world accessible to scholars and the general public. Interviews from the SPOHP collection have been used widely by university scholars, documentary filmmakers, public radio hosts, community-based organizations, and schoolchildren.
Our facilities are located in Pugh Hall, which is in the heart of the historic district of the University of Florida. Pugh Hall also houses the Bob Graham Center for Public Service.
SPOHP is dedicated to building on the legacies initiated in 1967 by our founder, UF Historian and Professor Emeritus Samuel Proctor. Our collection includes more than 4,000 oral histories, making it the largest oral history archive in the South. We have more than 900 interviews with Native Americans (Seminoles, Creeks, Cherokees, and other nations) and significant numbers of interviews with African American Civil Rights activists, women in Florida, World War II veterans, Florida politicians, and pioneering faculty, staff, and administrators from the University of Florida.
Check out our projects page to read how we are working with the UF Digital Library Center and the Florida Center for Library Automation to digitize our holdings and to make history come alive for you. SPOHP is working to train new generations of students to capture and catalogue untapped histories of social justice, everyday life, and epic events in our nation and the broader world. More about the theory and practice of oral history can be found in our teaching section.
A new Oral History Public Program Series has already featured public events on World War II veterans' experiences and African American history and will continue in 2010 with an event featuring women in professional health occupations. We are looking for individuals, groups, and classes willing to volunteer time to our research and teaching initiatives.
Gathering, transcribing, and making oral histories accessible all take resources. We are continually working on raising new funds to sustain our work. We encourage you to visit our support page today if you would like to contribute to our program. Please email or call us if you have questions about participating or volunteering your time with SPOHP.
Paul Ortiz
Director
portiz@ufl.edu
