Two sets of oral histories are available at the CJA. The first consists of interviews done as part of the Archive's own Oral History Project; they are not yet transcribed and are presently unavailable for research.
The second set, part of the Archive's Jazz Institute of Chicago Collection, came to the Archive through the generosity of the Oral History Program of the Jazz Institute. These 24 oral histories are from people central to the history of jazz in Chicago. The histories themselves are not online, but there is a list on the CJA website. JIC oral histories
Other locations holding oral histories include:
- The
Hogan Jazz Archive at Tulane has an index of its New Orleans jazz oral
histories; the files themselves are not available online.
The Microforms Collection in RR3 at Regenstein Library holds fiche
copies of 45 oral history transcripts or digests from the Hogan Archive
collection; the local call number is microfc ML3508.N4
- The Chicago Historical Society has an oral history collection that includes the Studs Terkel radio interviews. His interview with Betty Carter can be found in the audio collection "Voices of our Time," available for purchase from Highbridge Audio The Library's Recordings Collection holds a copy at E169.1.T47
- The History Makers archive in Chicago has musician oral histories along with many other African-American oral histories; see the MusicMakers section of the website for a list.
- At the Library of Congress,
American Life
Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project 1936-1940
contains three full-text WPA Chicago jazz oral histories,
those of Arnie Freeman (Bud's brother), George Barnes, and Muggsy Spanier.
There are also jazz oral histories at:
- The Smithsonian
National Museum of American History (NMAH) Archives, and
some Smithsonian oral history material is commercially
available from Smithsonian Folkways under
Spoken Word
- the British Library's National Sound Archives
- the New York Public Library's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
- Oral History, American Music at Yale University School of Music
- There are three marvelous first-hand accounts by 1920's theater conductors at TheSilent Film Bookshelf
- The University of Michigan's Nathaniel C. Standifer Archive of Oral History contains approximately 150 interviews with African-American musicians. Transcripts of 60 of the interviews are available online, including Eubie Blake, Dorothy Donegan, William Grant Still, and Thomas A. Dorsey
- The Hamilton College Jazz Archive has over 220 video oral histories.
- The International Association of Jazz Record Collectors has taped interviews available for rental to members. A list can be found at the IAJRC Audio-Visual Library page.
- Transcripts of interviews conducted as part of the Ken Burns Jazz series are available from PBS.org
- Some contemporary jazz artist interviews are available at Innerviews.
- There is a radio interview with Chicago jazz violinist Johnny Frigo on WBEZ's Eight forty-eight program; the date for the audio link is September 14, 1999.
- The Library of American Broadcasting at the University of Maryland has some jazz broadcasts; use the keyword "jazz" in their WAIS search engine.
- The Indiana University Center for History and Memory has musician interviews 1920s+ in its INDIANAPOLIS BLUES (1985) and PEOPLE OF INDIANAPOLIS (1983) collections. Descriptions are available on the Collections page.
Deeds of Gift for Oral Histories
Taking a useful oral history can be a real challenge. Some excellent resources are available online:- Fieldwork guide and forms from the Library of Congress Folklife Center
- Evaluation Guidelines, Principles and Standards, and Bibliography and "Oral History and the Law" (with forms) from the Oral History Association.
- Oral History Resources from Humanities and Social Sciences Online (H-Net) and the Oral History Association.
- Indiana University Center for the Study of History and Memory
- DoingOralHistory.org
- Legal forms and resources from the UCLA Oral History Program
- Oral History Primer from UC-Santa Cruz