NPS Harpers Ferry Center Collection
Browse oral history transcripts of recordings held at the Harpers Ferry Center Archives. Note that the albums below show the cover pages, offering a preview of the interview subjects and dates. To read the full transcripts, use the download option or visit the collection at NPGallery:
Oral History in Parks
Alaska Parks
Five Alaska parks—Denali, Katmai, Lake Clark, Sitka, and Yukon-Charley Rivers—have collaborated with the digital branch of the oral history program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Find interviews, photographs, and other resources at Project Jukebox.
Cane River Creole National Historical Park
A 2015 project, Oral History and Ethnographic Interviews with Traditionally Associated People of Cane River Creole National Historical Park, aimed to document contemporary populations and traditions with direct relationships to Magnolia and Oakland Plantations, as well as to the larger region. The study concentrates primarily on the twentieth century and the social, political, and economic changes that began especially after World War I and which continue into the twenty-first century.
Gateway National Recreation Area
Gateway National Recreation Area features interviews with those who remember living or working at or near Sandy Hook Lighthouse and Fort Hancock from World War I to the Cold War.
Harry S. Truman National Historic Site
Read the memories of Truman family friends, neighbors, and associates at Harry S. Truman National Historic Site.
Lowell National Historical Park
Lowell National Historical Park and the Center for Lowell History, University of Massachusetts—Lowell have posted hundreds of transcribed interviews about the history of education, industry, and everyday life in the city of Lowell.
Minuteman Missile National Historic Site
Interviews with missileers, security and maintenance team members, peace activists, and local citizens offer multiple perspectives on Minuteman Missile National Historic Site's Cold War history.
Pearl Harbor National Memorial
The Pearl Harbor oral history interviews document and preserve the experiences and memories of those who witnessed the Pearl Harbor attack. The collection includes interviews with civilians and military personnel from both the United States and Japan. Audio from these interviews is also available on the park website.
Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park
Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park, in collaboration with Regional Oral History Office at the University of California at Berkeley, has conducted interviews with residents of the San Francisco Bay Area about their experiences during World War II.
Shenandoah National Park
Members of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built trails, graded roads, and built facilities in Shenandoah National Park.
National Park Service Personnel
Association of National Park Rangers
Since 2013, the Association of National Park Rangers has partnered with the Park History Program to conduct a Centennial-inspired oral history project. Interviews document how veteran Park Service personnel built careers, put policies into practice, and combined work and family life. The interviews are also contributing to leadership development among younger ANPR members.
Interview with George B. Hartzog
Janet A. McDonnell and William C. Everhard, Oral History Interview with George B. Hartzog Jr., Director, National Park Service, 1964-1972 (Washington, DC: National Park Service, Department of the Interior, 2007). [PDF]
Interview with Robert G. Stanton
Janet A. McDonnell, Oral History Interview with Robert G. Stanton, Director, National Park Service, 1997-2001 (Washington, DC: National Park Service, Department of the Interior, 2007). [PDF]
Interview with Robert M. Utley
Richard W. Sellars and Melody Webb, An Interview with Robert M. Utley on the History of Historic Preservation in the National Park Service, 1947-1980, Southwest Cultural Resources Center Professional Papers No. 16 (Santa Fe, 1988).
Last updated: November 15, 2022