ORAL HISTORY PROGRAM MISSION STATEMENT
Emphasizing the voices least represented in the archival record, the College’s oral history program documents events and issues that have shaped Dartmouth College and altered or challenged the direction and identity of the institution.
Oral History Collections:
SpeakOut
Oral histories collected from former Dartmouth students and current and former Dartmouth faculty and staff documenting the history of the College's LGBTQIA+ community. Launched in 2018 and ongoing. Interviewed by current Dartmouth students with training and leadership from Caitlin Birch and Alexis Liston of Rauner Library. In partnership with DGALA. Transcripts and audio recordings available online and in Rauner Library. Read more about the project on Rauner's blog and at Dartmouth News.
To learn more about becoming a narrator, visit the SpeakOut participation page.
The Dartmouth Vietnam Project
Oral histories collected from members of the Dartmouth community (alumni and their families; current and former faculty, staff, and administrators; current and former residents of the Upper Valley) documenting their experiences of the Vietnam War era (1950-1975). Launched in 2014 and ongoing. Interviewed by current Dartmouth students with training and leadership from Caitlin Birch of Rauner Library and professors Edward Miller, Jennifer Miller, and Julia Rabig of the Department of History. Transcripts and audio recordings available online and in Rauner Library. Read more about the project on Rauner's blog and at Dartmouth News.
Dartmouth Community and Dartmouth’s World
Oral histories collected from members of the Dartmouth community (alumni, students, current and emeritus faculty and staff) describing their undergraduate and work experiences at Dartmouth from the end of World War Two to the present. Interviewed by Mary Donin and student interns 2012-2014. Transcripts available online. Audio recordings available in Rauner Library. Read more about the project on Rauner's blog and at Dartmouth News.
To learn how narrators and topics were selected, read Rauner Library's Oral History Selection Policy.
The War Years at Dartmouth
Oral histories collected from members of the classes of the 1940s documenting their undergraduate experiences at Dartmouth before, during and after World War Two. Interviewed by Mary Donin 2007-2011. Transcripts and sound recordings available in Rauner Library and online.
Dartmouth College Presidents
Access Policy: Interviews in any format – digital recordings, audiotapes, transcripts and electronic files – conducted as part of the College’s oral history program that document the administrations of Dartmouth presidents are closed for twenty-five years from the end of the most recent presidential administration they document. Permission for access to closed interviews must be submitted in writing to the College Archivist or designee and granted by the Office of the President.
Dickey, John Sloan (1907-1991)
Oral history of the twelfth president of Dartmouth College (1945-1970), Dartmouth College Oral History Project, interviewed by Jere Daniell periodically during 1975-1978. Transcript with index and original sound recording available in Rauner Library; transcript with index and sound clips available online.
Freedman, James Oliver (1935-2006)
Oral history about the fifteenth president of Dartmouth College (1987-1998), Dartmouth College Oral History Project. Interviews conducted by Mary Donin, 2007-2009. Closed until June 2023.
Hopkins, Ernest Martin (1877-1964)
Oral history of the eleventh president of Dartmouth College (1916-1945), Dartmouth College Oral History Project, interviewed by Edward Connery Lathem over a period of years from 1958 to 1964. Original sound recordings available in Rauner Library; transcript, unedited and unindexed, and sound clips available online.
In addition, a student interview conducted by Laurence I. Schwartz, class of '64, in November 1963. Original sound recording available in Rauner Library; transcript, unedited and unindexed, available online.
Kemeny, John George (1926-1992)
Oral history of the thirteenth president of Dartmouth College (1970-1981), Dartmouth College Oral History Project, interviewed by A. Alexander Fanelli, 1984. Transcript with index and original sound recording available in Rauner Library; transcript with index and sound clips available online.
McLaughlin, David Thomas (1932-2004)
Oral history of the fourteenth president of Dartmouth College (1981-1987), Dartmouth College Oral History Project, interviewed by Jane Carroll, 1996-1997. Transcript with index and original sound recording available in Rauner Library; transcript with index and sound clips available online.
Wright, James Edward (1938- )
Oral history of the sixteenth president of Dartmouth College (1998-2009), Dartmouth College Oral History Program. Interviews will begin in 2012. Closed until 2034.
Faculty, trustees and administrators of Dartmouth College
Oral history interviews with faculty, trustees and administrators of Dartmouth College, collected periodically since the 1970s to the present time, Dartmouth College Oral History Project.
Dartmouth Medical Community
History of Dartmouth Medicine
Oral history interviews with members of the Dartmouth medical community, interviewed by Dr. Louis B. Matthews, Jr., 1987-1989.
Department of Pediatrics
Oral histories of members of the Department of Pediatrics of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, formerly Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital, interviewed by Jean Hamlin (Class of 2007), 2005-2006.