Want to add some spice to your class reader, lecture, or your own research?

Are you planning to teach an undergraduate class in any field? Looking to add some umph to the class reader you’re putting together? Or spice up your lecture with an intriguing story? Or find that spot-on primary source for your own research?

Primary sources with pizazz

The Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley.
The Bancroft Library.

The Oral History Center (OHC) has oral history interviews on just about every topic imaginable: science, engineering, business, politics, the environment, social movements, women’s rights, gay rights, arts and literature, UC Berkeley history, and more. 

OHC interview transcripts are all online — they have video and audio clips for many. Some transcripts are even synched to the full videotaped interview, specifically for the Rosie the Riveter Home Front Collection. And the OHC has podcasts featuring their audio recordings on a wide range of topics dating back to the suffrage movement. 

If you know what you’re looking for, select “Advanced Search” and enter key words in the full text feature, or browse OHC projects

Prestigious $500 prize for undergrads

As a GSI, you can help guide your students to a great opportunity to earn a prize for the work they do in your class. Undergraduates who use the Center’s oral history interviews for a UC Berkeley class paper in any discipline are eligible for a $500 prize for outstanding primary source research. They don’t need to write a separate paper — just submit one from a class where they have used the interviews. If you’re teaching a class where students need to write a research paper of any kind, please let them know about the Friesen Prize. 

If you have any questions, or if you use the Oral History Center’s sources in a class you are teaching or in your own research, please email [email protected]. You can be featured in the Oral History Center’s newsletter or social media.