Newcomb College Alumnae Oral History Project Collection

Description

The Newcomb College Alumnae Oral History Project grew out of a popular weekly series hosted by the Newcomb College Center for Research on Women (then known as the Newcomb Women’s Center) in the early 1980s, during which faculty members would interview a local alum. The recordings of these interviews formed the beginning of the Newcomb Archives’ oral history collection. The Alumnae Oral History Project officially began in 1986, with a series of interviews inspired by the College’s centennial year. Over the years, the collection has grown to include interviews with alumnae from 1910 through the late 1990s.

When it first began, no formal program was in place. For this reason, permission forms and additional paper work may be missing for some interviews. Most of interviews were originally recorded on cassette tapes. Since 2004, interviews have been recorded in a digital format. Since the early 2000s, the staff of the Newcomb Archives has worked to digitize all interviews.

The alums interviewed explore memories of their days in college, as well as how their lives evolved after leaving Newcomb. Many have different perspectives on Newcomb’s past, and every alum has an individual voice. Together, the interviews create a more complete picture of the historic Newcomb College and its influence on the lives of its alums.