SPOHP, in partnership with the Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center, invites the public to “Welcoming Black Faculty to Higher Education: A Racial Justice Town Hall”. The event will be held at the Cotton Club Museum on Thursday, October 12 at 6 p.m. in person as well as in hybrid mode.
Read more "Welcoming Black Faculty to Higher Education: A Racial Justice Town Hall"
UF’s Ytori magazine highlights SPOHP’s Challenging Racism at UF initiative. “In oral history, we learn about the power of storytelling. This reveals truths that can sometimes be very uncomfortable,” SPOHP director Dr. Paul Ortiz told Ytori. “If we’re going to be a top-tier research institution, we need to use the tools of historical research to make the university a more welcoming place.”
Welcome back UF students, faculty, and staff! Please join us for our first event of the Fall 2023 semester, a SPOHP open house at 5 pm on Monday, September 25th in the Pugh Hall Ocora. Learn about our many projects and opportunities to travel, conduct field research, network, learn oral history methods, digital production skills, and more!
Vasilios Kosmakos, SPOHP researcher and founder of the Florida Naturalist Project, curated a digital exhibit about the “story of water in Florida” for the Matheson Museum. Explore the exhibit here.
Read more "“Interwoven Waters:” Using Oral History to Document Florida’s Waterways"
With a $350,000 federal grant, UF researchers will showcase recordings that tell how antislavery activists secretly assisted those escaping slavery.
Read more "Sharing the Underground Railroad’s Oral Histories"
On Tuesday, May 16th, 2023, the Delaware General Assembly honored the life of Thomas Garrett, who helped more than 2,400 people to freedom on the Underground Railroad. Click “read more” to learn more, or click here to follow Samuel Proctor’s National Park Service grant story.
Two years after the Ocoee massacre, and one year before the destruction of Rosewood by a White mob, one Black man stood up to the Ku Klux Klan in Jim Crow Florida. Black WWI Veteran Oscar Mack received a federal appointment as Postmaster in Kissimmee. One hundred years later, interviews with Mack’s descendants reveal the true story.
The Samuel Proctor Oral History Program (SPOHP) is thankful for all of the years and contributions that Ms. Hendrix continues to make to the program. Ms. Hendrix is an invaluable member of the SPOHP family. Without her hard work and support, SPOHP would not be where it is today. This piece by the Independent Florida Alligator recently featured Ms. Hendrix’s work.
Please join us on February 13, 2023, at 6 pm Eastern Time, at the Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center for a community presentation about UF’s impact in the Black communities of Gainesville. The program will focus on housing, healthcare, and income inequalities. The event will take place at the historic Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center: 837 SE 7th Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32601
Read more "“OverKome!” Persevering with Collective Community-led Development"
Please join us on February 23, 2023, at 5 pm Eastern Time, either remotely or in person, for the book presentation and signing of Stayed on Freedom with the author Dan Berger. The book is the biography of Dr. Zoharah Simmons, who will be a distinguished guest and co-speaker at this event.