Guide to the State and Local Government Archives Oral History Collection, 1996-2002 AIS.1997.02

Arrangement

Repository
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Title
State and Local Government Archives Oral History Collection
Creator
University of Pittsburgh. Archives Service Center
Collection Number
AIS.1997.02
Extent
3.75 Linear Feet (229 cassettes; 3 boxes)
Date
1996-2002
Abstract
The State and Local Government Archives (SLGA) Oral History Collection includes transcripts of interviews, audiocassettes, research notes, newspaper clippings, and sundry items donated by interviewees. Interviewees are notable figures in state and local government, especially those who were involved in the areas of environmental issues, electoral campaigning, urban redevelopment, civil rights, the role of gender in governance, and details of the workings and processes of governing. The SLGA Collection complements other collections in the Archives Service Center in areas such as urban planning and development, ethnic settlement, industrialization and deindustrialization, air pollution, union organizing, and university courses and policies affecting politics.
Physical Location
Oral History cassette tapes are housed in the oral history cabinet with a 97:2 accession number and filed alphabetically within the collection. The originals tapes are closed to patrons, but they may listen to the duplicate copies.
Language
English .
Author
Archives Service Center staff.
Sponsor
Funding for the digitization and transcriptions of a portion of these oral histories was provided by the Recordings At Risk Program of the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR), in 2022-2023.
Publisher
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Address
University of Pittsburgh Library System
Archives & Special Collections
Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Business Number: 412-648-3232 (Thomas) | 412-648-8190 (Hillman)
Contact Us: www.library.pitt.edu/ask-archivist
URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections

Acquisition Information

Interviews conducted with funds from the Buhl Foundation under a grant titled, "Twentieth Century Transitions: Pittsburgh politics from 1950 to the present."

Previous Citation

State and Local Government Archives Oral History Collection, 1996-2002, AIS.1997.02, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh

Preferred Citation

State and Local Government Archives Oral History Collection, 1996-2002, AIS.1997.02, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System

Copyright

All rights reserved. University of Pittsburgh.

History

In 1997, staff at the Archives Service Center began the State and Local Government Archives (SLGA) Oral History Program. They aimed to capture the living memories of politicians from the local, state, and federal governments from Pittsburgh and the Western Pennsylvania area. SLGA interviewed local political figures about governmental and political workings in the region, emphasizing the role of parties, environmental issues, electoral campaigning, urban redevelopment, civil rights, the role of gender in governance, and obscure happenings. In May of 1998, work on the SLGA greatly accelerated with the hiring of a graduate student assistant who conducted many more interviews.

Scope and Content Notes

Along with the main transcript, other information is included in the interviewees' individual files. These additional sections will provide some structure and summary of the interviewees' life and work. These sections include:

1. "Interviewer's Notes" which refer to the notes taken by the interviewer while doing research for the interview. Research contained in "Interviewer's Notes" comes from newspaper clippings (pertaining to the interviewee's life and work) found at the Pennsylvania Room and/or the clipping files of the Carnegie Library, from Pittsburgh's alternative papers the Pittsburgh Point and the Pittsburgh Forum, or from searches from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Database (downloads from which are no longer free of charge). The primary person researching the interviewees used abbreviations to denote the source of the information: PPG denotes Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and Press denotes the Pittsburgh Press.

2. "Interviewer's Questions" usually provides a rough index of most interviews. They often contain notes the interviewer took during the interview. However, some interviewees spoke at length and wandered from the main subject of the question, or the research on the interviewee did not turn up his/her involvement in something which occupied a large segment of the interview.

The first office listed for each interviewee is the one covered in the most depth and detail by the interview(s). Interviewees' time constraints kept some interviews from covering the length of their careers. Some of the interviewee files contain records duplicated elsewhere in the archives. The Pittsburgh Renaissance Oral History Project Collection (AIS.1973.24) should also be consulted to supplement material from the SLGA.

Availability of electronic audio recordings

Subjects

    Geographic Names

    • Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Officials and employees
    • Pennsylvania -- Officials and employees
    • Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Politics and government
    • Pennsylvania -- Politics and government -- 20th century
    • Allegheny County (Pa.) -- Politics and government -- 20th century
    • Allegheny County (Pa.) -- Officials and employees
    • Pittsburgh (Pa.)
    • Pennsylvania
    • Allegheny County (Pa.)

    Genres

    • Memorabilia
    • Oral histories (Document genres)
    • Audiocassettes

    Other Subjects

    • Environmental protection -- Pennsylvania -- Allegheny County
    • Local government and environmental policy -- Pennsylvania -- Allegheny County
    • Environmental management -- Pennsylvania -- Allegheny County
    • Civil rights -- Pennsylvania -- Allegheny County
    • Civil rights -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Urban renewal -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Urban renewal -- Pennsylvania -- Allegheny County
    • Municipal government -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • County government -- Pennsylvania -- Allegheny County
    • Legislators -- Pennsylvania
    • Legislators -- Pennsylvania -- Allegheny County
    • Legislators -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Government
    • Politics
    • Social action
    • University of Pittsburgh
    • Women

Container List