Oral Histories Collection

The Urban Archives holds several collections of oral histories including the original tape recordings and typed transcripts.

Philadelphia General Hospital Oral History Project (PG)
8 interviews

Interviews were conducted under the auspices of the PGH History Task Force. Interviewees were all employees of the Hospital which closed in 1977.

Oral History of Mid-20th Century Philadelphia City Government
The Walter Phillips Oral History Project (WP)
145 interviews

Interviews are the result of a personal project undertaken by Walter M. Phillips, Sr. The collection covers Philadelphia during the period 1930-1979 including politics, government, city planning, and urban development. The bulk of the material concerns the administrations of Mayors Clark and Dilworth (1952-1965).

Visions of Equality
Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia Oral History (VE)
17 interviews, 15 transcribed

Interviews were conducted as part of the production of a videotape Visions of Equality for the tenth anniversary symposium of the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia. The collection covers the Philadelphia area and deals with educational equality, labor, handicapped, senior citizens, African Americans and Hispanics, women, the environment, and public housing.

Oral Interviews Collection (OI)
42 interviews, 6 transcribed

Collection was created by the cumulation of individual interviews conducted by Temple University graduate and senior students for dissertation or course purposes and for the Discovering Community History Project. The collection deals with the Philadelphia area during 1900-1970 and includes the topics of housing, education, politics, social welfare, labor unions, jews, immigrants, and some local neighborhoods. Interviews were conducted during 1969-1979.

Rona Buchalter Collection (RB)
38 interviews, 27 transcribed

This oral history collection was donated by Rona Buchalter who conducted the interviews for her dissertation work. The interviews document the lives of persons who live(d) in the Queen Village neighborhood of Philadelphia. Interviews were conducted from January 1996 thru January 1997.

William Cutler Collection (WC)
2 interviews, transcribed (as of 1/1/99)

Interviews conducted by Dr. William Cutler with individuals who were involved with the Parent Teachers Association of the Philadelphia public school system. The Gladys (Happy) Fernandez interview (7/14/97) focuses on her work with the Parent's Union which evolved out of the Powelton Mantua Education Fund in 1972. The Kathe Zepernick interview took place on 10/3/97.

Myer and Rosaline Feinstein Center for
American Jewish History Collection (AJ)
40 interviews

Oral histories of Jewish people who live or where raised in the Philadelphia or surrounding areas. Interviews started in 1996.

Lois Fernandez(LF)
1 interview, transcribed

Oral history conducted by the Head of the Urban Archives. Ms. Fernandez is a community activist, entrepreneur and co-founder of ODUNDE. Initiated in 1979, ODUNDE is the oldest continuously running African-American community festival in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Interview conducted between December 8-10, 1999.

INDEX TO ORAL HISTORIES IN THE URBAN ARCHIVES BY PERSONAL NAME

Adams, Arlin Judge (AJ)
Alexander, Sadie T. M. (WP)
Alpert, Rebecca(AJ)
Amsterdam, Gustave, G. (WP)(AJ)
Aquino, Carlos Sgt. (VE)
Arns, Susan (RB)
Auerbach, Carol(AJ)
Auspitz, David (RB)
Ayers, Cindy (RB)
Azzanarro, Jane (RB)
Bacon, Edmund N. (WP)
Bailey, John A. (WP)
Barkas, Benjamin (OI)
Barnard, Boyd (WP)
Barnes, Herbert(AJ)
Barr, Philip Fr. (PG)
Bauer, Edward G. (WP)
Baxter, Samuel (WP)
Beck, Judge(AJ)
Becker, Joseph Rev. (OI)
Beerits, Henry C. (WP)
Berger, David (WP)
Berman, Philip I. (AJ)
Berson, Lenora (WP)
Berson, Norman (WP)
Binzen, Peter (WP)
Blatt, Genevieve (WP)
Block, Harry (WP)
Bloom, Pepi (AJ)
Bloom, Margo(AJ)
Boardman, John (WP)
Bodine, John W. (WP)
Bodine, William W. Jr. (WP)
Bok, Nellie Lee (WP)
Boucher, Mary
SEE: Whitman Meeting (OI)
Brace, Penelope Det. Sgt. (VE)
Bradley, Michael J. (WP)
Brenner, Clifford (WP)(AJ)
Brood, Lou (RB)
Brosilow, Samuel (OI)
Bubba, Olivia M. (OI)
Buckley, Romanus J. (WP)
Buczek, Marion (RB)
Bunting, John (WP)
Burke, Joseph F. (WP)
Burns, Steven (RB)
Burns, William (OI)
Burns, William T. (WP)
Byrne, Michael J. (WP)
Caesar, Anthony (PG)
Callaghan, Robert J. (WP)
Calpin, John C. (WP)
Chait, Frederick (WP)
Camiel, Peter (WP)
Caplan, Adolph (OI)
Cavanaugh, Ann Ryder Mrs. (OI)
Chapman, Richard E. (WP)
Cheston, Emily Fox (OI)
Clark, Dennis J. (WP)
Clark, Joseph S. (WP)
Cohen, Betsy(AJ)
Cohen, David(AJ)
Cohen, Lita(AJ)
Collier, Edmond (and) Eric Schopf (RB)
Collins, Irene
SEE: Whitman Meeting (OI)
Comey, Dennis J. (WP)
Cooke, M. Todd (WP)
Coppola, James (OI)
Costa, Greg (RB)
Cottler, Joseph and Elizabeth (OI)
Coughlin, Robert (WP)
Covey, Mrs. (OI)
Coxe, Spencer (WP)
Crawford, Robert (WP)
Croley, Paul F. (WP)
D'Allesio, Walter (WP)
Dent, John (VE)
Dichter, Larry and Helen (RB)
Dilworth, Richardson (OI)
Dilworth, Richardson Jr. (WP)
Dallas, Constance H. (WP)
Dingle, Arthur (OI)
Dolbeare, Cushing and Louis (WP)
Doran, Richard (WP)
D'Ortona, Paul (WP)
Dressler, Frank (WP)
Dretscher, Dick (RB)
Duane, Morris (WP) Eastburn, David (WP)
Eilberg, Joshua (AJ)
Eisner, Jane(AJ)
Ervin, Dorothy
SEE: Southwark Tenant Council (RB)
Fagan, Maurice (WP)
Farber, Jack (AJ)
Fause, Irene
SEE: Southwark Tenant Council
Fernandez, Gladys (Happy) (WC)
Fernandez, Lois(LF)
Ferrell, Dan (RB)
Ferst, Nancy (AJ)
Fialkowski, Marian and Leona (VE)
Finney, Graham (WP)
Foglietta, Thomas M. (WP)
Folwell, Robert (WP)
Forde, George S. (WP)
Frankel, Ellen(AJ)
Frazier, Charles S. (WP)
Freedman, Robert L. (WP)
Freeman, Andrew (WP)
Funke, Denise (RB)
Gaffigan, Joseph (WP)
Geffen, Mintz(AJ)
Gentner, Frederick W.(OI)
Gershenfeld, Matti(AJ)
Gibbon, Maly (WP)
Gladfelter, Millard (WP)
Goldberg, Frances(AJ)
Goldstein, Libby (RB)
Gontowski, Frank (RB)
Gooch, John (RB)
Green, Dolores
SEE Southwark Tenant Council
Green, Raymond (WP)
Green William (RB)
Gregorian, Vartan (WP)
Green, William J. III (WP)
Greifer, Julian (WP)
Groce, Louisa (RB)
Halloran, Harry (WP)
Hamilton, John (OI)
Harnwell, Gaylord (WP)
Harral, Henry (WP)
Heckert, Robert (WP)
Hendrick, Edward (WP)
Herold, Ken (and) Kate (RB)
Hoffner, Tom (OI)
Horr, Morris (OI)
Horr, Myndel (OI)
Hunter, Alan (RB)
Ingersoll, C. Jared (OI)
Ingraham, Norman R. (WP)
Jaffe, Susan(AJ)
Josephs, Babette(AJ)
Kahn, Charles Jr.(AJ)
Kahn, Charles(AJ)
Kahn, Kenneth (RB)
Karsch, Carole(AJ)
Kaufman, Jerry (VE)
Kakuffman, Raymond (RB)
Katz, Betsy(AJ)
Kelly, John B. (OI)
Kelly, John B. Jr. (WP)
Keyser, Henrietta (OI)
Kistler, Andrea (and) John (RB)
Klebon, Emily (VE)
Klein, Philip (WP)
Klenk, William G. II (WP)
Kling, Vincent (WP)
Knowlton, Frank
SEE: Whitman Meeting (OI)
Kodish, Debra(AJ)
Kuhn, Maggie (VE)
Landis, Robert (WP)
Landis, Sora E.(AJ)
Leader, George M. (WP)
Lear, Walter J. (PG)
Lee, P. Blair (WP)
Lennox, William M. (WP)
Levin, Susan(AJ)
Levy, Paul (RB)
Lieberman, Stanley (OI)
Lisan, Jacob (OI)
Lissy, Barbara G.(AJ)
Littell, Marcia(AJ)
Longstreth, Thacher (WP)
Lousinian, Varsen (OI)
MacIntosh, W. James (WP)
MacWilliams, Viola (OI)
Mahoney,James J. (WP)
Mann, Kay (OI)
Martin, James (WP)
Mattleman, Marciene S.(AJ)
McCarey, James (WP)
McConnell, Richard J. (WP)
McCullough, John G. (WP)
McEntee, Marie (OI)
McLaughlin, Joseph (WP)
Meehan, William (WP)
Meek, William (WP)
Menaker, Miriam(AJ)
Mesirov, Leon I. (WP)
Meyerson, Martin (WP)
Michaels, Abraham (WP)
Middleton, Yolanda (VE)
Miller, Joseph (WP)
Miller, Walter P. (WP)
Mitchell, Robert B. (WP)
Moak, Lennox (WP)
Monroe, Ruth (RB)
Montgomery, Dorothy Schoell (WP)(OI)
Moran, Jim (VE)
Nash, Jennifer (VE)
Nearing, Scott (OI)
Neuman, Jay (VE)
Nieburh, Herman Jr. (WP)
Northrup, Vernon P.(WP)
Obermayor, Leon J. (WP)
O’Keefe, Mary (OI)
Olmsted, Allen S. II (WP)
Osser, Maurice S. (OI)
Petrella, Marie (WP)
Perkins, G. Holmes (WP)
Pemutter, Felice Davidson(AJ)
Phillips, Walter M. (WP)
Phillips, Walter M. Jr. (WP)
Pierson, Bob (RB)
Polis, Harold (OI)
Porter, Jill(AJ)
Potts, Frederic A. (WP)
Price, Philip (WP)
Puckett, Colleen (RB)
Rafsky, William(AJ)
Rafsky, William L.(WP)
Randall, David V.(WP)
Rauch, R. Stewart Jr. (WP)
Rementer, Joseph
SEE: Whitman Meeting (OI)
Reynolds, Nellie (VE)
Riegel, Marguerite L. (OI)
Robin, John P. (WP)
Rock, Eli (WP)
Rose, Ryder(AJ)
Rosen, Abe (WP)
Roser, Foster (WP)
Ross, George M. (AJ)
Ross, William (WP)
Rubel, Donald (WP)
Rubin, Ronald (AJ)
Rugg, Martin (OI)
Saxe, Natalie (WP)
Sawyer, Henry W. III (WP)
Schauffler, Peter (WP)
Schermer, George (WP)
Schernecke, Marge (RB)
Schneidman, Harold (WP)
Schneirov, Miriam A.(AJ)
Schopf, Eric (and) Edmond Collier (RB)
Schumate, Marie Mrs. (OI)
Schurr, Florence (RB)
Schwait, Marcy (RB)
Schwait, Saul (RB)
Schwartz, Allyson(AJ)
Schwartz, George X. (WP)
Scott, Hugh D. Jr. (WP)
Shaltz, Simon (WP)
Shapiro, Norma L.(AJ)
Shapp, Milton J. (WP)
Shepard, James (OI)
Shestack, Jerome J. (WP)
Shull, Leon (WP)
Shuster, William Lewis, Jr. (Acc. 825)
Shusterman, Murray H. (WP)
Silbert, Rose (OI)
Simon, Catherine (PG)
Simpson, Charles G. (WP)
Smith, Bernard (RB)
Smith, Laurence M.C. (WP)
Southwark Tenant Council (RB)
Specter, Arlen (WP)
Spivack, Joel (RB)
Stachniewicz, Stephanie (PG)
Stewart, Nathaniel (PG)
Stiefel, Bernie (RB)
Stratos, Joseph Jr. (WP)
Straus, J. Pennington (WP)
Strawbridge, G. Stockton (WP)
Sunstein, Emily (WP)
Sweeney, Stephen B. (WP)
Tate, James H.J. (WP)
Tate, Mercer (WP)
Taylor, Robert L. (WP)
Temin, Annette (WP)
Toohey, Edward (WP)
Trainer, Bill and Whalen, Tom (OI)
Troncelliti, Manrico (PG)
Tucker, Benjamin (OI)
Van Dusen, Lewis H. Jr. (WP)
Vaughan, Eversley (VE)
Von Moschzisker, Michael M. (WP)
Wachman, Marvin (WP)
Wachs, Isadore (OI)
Walther, Frank O. (WP)
Warren, Lorraine (and) Alan (RB)
Washington, Clifford (VE)
Washington, Rebecca
SEE: Southwark Tenant Council (RB)
Weinhouse, Adele Klein (OI)
Weisberger, Barbara(AJ)
Wintraub, Tina V. (WP)(PG)
Wetherill, Elkins (WP)
Wexler, Elias (OI)
Whaley, Randall M. (WP)
Whitall, W. Brinton (WP)
Whitman Meeting (OI)
Wilhelm, Paul A. (WP)
Williams, Cecil (VE)
Winnet, Nochem S. (WP)
Wise, Randolph E. (WP)
Wolf, Elias (WP)
Wolfgang, Marvin E.(WP)
Wortman, Judy B.(AJ)
Ylvisaker, Paul N.(WP)
Young, Andrew B.(WP)
Zecca, Anthony P.(WP)
Zepernick, Kathe(WC)
Zolot, Jane(AJ)
Zucker, William (WP)