Tag Archives: federal

Interviews on Business History

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Project description: This is the catch all for business history interviews housed at the Regional Oral History Office at UC – Berkeley. These are interviews with major West Coast players in a wide variety of industries and business sectors: textiles, shipping, banking, agriculture, import-export businesses, etc. Most of the interviews are extensive life histories and transcripts run to hundreds of pages.

Regulatory significance: A large swath of these interviews at least touch on regulatory issues related to the specific industries that the interviewees worked in. This is a very rich collection for exploring the perspective of business on government regulation. Of particular note on financial regulation is an interview with Walter E. Hoadley, former Federal Reserve system director.

Repository: University of California – Berkeley

Interview dates: 1955 – present

Digital access: Transcripts for these interviews are available online.

Physical access: For access to all transcripts and audio, visit the Bancroft Library at UC-Berkeley, California.

Link: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/collections/subjectarea/business/businesst.html

Soil Conservation Service Oral History Collection

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Project description: These interviews were conducted in 1981 by the official historian of the Soil Conservation Service, Douglas Helms. The interviews were with “long-time employees,” some of which joined the SCS at its inception in 1935. Employees worked across the country, ranging from Oregon to Alabama.

Regulatory significance: Topics include: National Environmental Policy Act, watershed management, the work of the office of the administrator of the Soil Conservation Service, soil classification system, ways of achieving farmer participation in conservation programs, Civilian Conservation Corps, Great Plains Conservation Program, Strip Mine Commission, forest management, and relationships between SCS and Congress and state governments.

Repository: Iowa State University

Interview dates: 1981

Digital access: No online transcripts or audio.

Physical access: For transcripts and audio, visit the special collections department at Iowa State University.

Link: http://www.add.lib.iastate.edu/spcl/manuscripts/MS198.html

Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society Project

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Project description: The Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society has a collection of more than 150 oral history interviews with judges and lawyers who played significant roles with the circuit, which covers the states in the western U.S. including Alaska and Hawaii. Copies of many of the interviews are available at other repositories, particularly the Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley.

Regulatory significance: No specific information about the content of interviews are available in the finding aid, but this collection could likely contain information on federal regulations as applied and enforced in the U.S. West. This is likely a significant source for judicial rulings on environmental and land-use regulation.

Interview dates: 1987 – present

Digital access: No online access

Physical access: Copies of interview materials may be requested from the historical society, located in Pasadena, California. Visitors must contact the organization in advance. Some materials are available at other institutions. See the finding aid for specifics.

Link: http://www.njchs.org/oralhistory/index.php

Federal Judges of the Middle District Court Project Collection

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Project description: The Middle District of Florida Historical Society has sponsored an oral history project on federal judges of the Middle District Court, whose jurisdiction includes Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville. About a dozen interviews were conducted by staff members at the University of Florida’s Samuel Proctor Oral History Program.

Regulatory significance: No specific information about the content of interviews are available in the finding aid, but this collection could likely contain information on federal regulations as applied and enforced in Florida.

Interview dates: 1987-2009

Digital access: No online access

Physical access: Interview materials should be on location at the historical society in Orlando, Florida, but researchers are encouraged to call in advance of any visit.

Link: http://mdflhistoricalcommittee.com/donate/archives/finding-aids/hsa2010-02

National Institutes of Health Oral Histories

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Project description: The National Institutes of Health have conducted more than 100 interviews, some conducted by the History Associates and some conducted by oral historians on staff at the Office of NIH History.

Regulatory significance: Many of the interviews are highly technical discussions of medical techniques and research, but some of them discuss the evolution of safety regulations for hospitals, medical devices, and diseases like HIV/AIDS.

Interview dates: ~1964-2009

Digital access: Transcripts of many of the interviews are available online.

Physical access: Researchers will need to call or email to make an appointment to visit the Office of NIH History in Bethesda, Maryland.

Link: http://history.nih.gov/archives/oral_histories.html

Food and Drug Administration Oral History Program

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Collection description: The FDA began its oral history program in the mid 1970s, interviewing staff members towards the end of their careers. Per the oral history program’s description, “Though the program’s early focus was on agency staff directly connected to enforcement work, the History Office today collects oral histories from staff at all levels and across the agency.” More detailed information on the program can be found here.

Regulatory significance: This is a rich collection that explores in great detail the regulatory process from frontline monitoring to higher level rule-making.

Dates: 1974 – present

Digital access: Partial and full transcripts of many of these interviews can be found on the FDA website.

Physical access: Tapes and transcripts of the oral histories are deposited in the History of Medicine Division of the National Library of Medicine, in Bethesda, Maryland.

Interviewees: ~150

EPA History Program

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Collection description: According to EPA Order 1000.27 the “EPA History Program” dated March 1992, the EPA must conduct an Oral History Program. Michael H. Gorn and Dennis Williams served as the first historians of the EPA, and conducted the five oral history interviews with administrators and a deputy administrator.

Regulatory significance: Though few in number, the interviews provide rich details on the early history of the EPA and its structural dynamics. Many interviews include comments on the EPA’s relationship with the White House, Congress, OMB, regulated industries, public interest groups, and state and local government. They also include insightful discussions of regulatory conflicts over pesticides, industry emissions, crises like Love Canal, and scientific determinations.

Dates: 1992 – 1995

Digital access: Only interviews with five former agency heads are available online, with William Ruckelshaus, Russell Train, Alvin Alm, William K. Reilly, and Douglas M. Costle.

Federal Trade Commissioners Oral Histories

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Project description: The FTC catalogues oral histories with eight former commissioners. Only one of these interviews was conducted by the FTC; the rest were conducted for presidential libraries and universities.

Regulatory significance: Some of these interviews deal at length with regulatory issues at the FTC during the commissioners era and beyond—see especially the interview with Mary Gardiner Jones, and to a lesser extent, those with Stephen Spingarn and Lowell B. Mason. Others, such as the interview with Leon Higginbotham, deal mostly with Washington personalities and the longer political biography of the interviewee (particularly in connection with the presidents they served under).

Interview dates: Widely varied

Digital access: Transcripts are available online for interviews with Mary Gardiner Jones (1964-1973); Leon Higginbotham (1962-1964); Stephen Spingarn (1950-1953); Lowell B. Mason (1945-56).

Physical access: Interviews in various repositories, including presidential libraries and Columbia University.

Link: http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/history/oralhistory.shtm

Chemical Heritage Foundation Oral History Program

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Repository description: The Chemical Heritage Foundation has collected over 425 oral history interviews with leading figures in chemistry and related fields at its Center for Oral History. Projects include the chemical history of electronics, the chemical industry, polymers, and women in science.

Regulatory significance: At least one project is explicitly focused on the creation and implementation of the Toxic Substances Control Act. A few other interviews appear to speak to public and private regulation of chemicals.

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Dates: 1981 – Present

Digital access: Most digital transcripts are only available for a $5 fee.

URL: http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/collections/oral-histories/index.aspx

Forest History Society Oral History Collection

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Repository description: The Forest History Society’s oral history collection includes over 250 interviews with individuals involved in forest management and timber industries. Interviews were first recorded in the 1940s and the project is on-going.

Regulatory significance: At least 16 of these interviews directly address topics of forestry regulation and the impact of other environmental regulations on the practice of forest management by the Forest Service. The impact of the 1911 Mills Act and the 1960 Multiple-Use Forestry Act receives particular attention in multiple interviews. Other topics include public regulation of privately owned forests, uses of public land and timber, and the effects of the Clean Air Act, the clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species act on the activities of the Forest Service. Also of interest is the process through which interest groups, such as the Sierra Club and Chambers of Commerce participate in the policy making process.

Location: Durham, North Carolina

Dates: 1940s – Present

Digital access: Some transcripts available online, some only summarized, and interview compilations available for purchase

URL:  http://foresthistory.org/Research/ohiguide.html

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

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Project description: Per the finding aid, these five interviews provide the current and past presidents of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis with the opportunity to reflect on what they perceive to be the key historical events and managerial decisions that have influenced Bank history. The interviews address topics such as policy development and implementation, organization, staffing, building issues, special initiatives, and major operational events.

Regulatory significance: These interviews are instructive regarding financial regulation, particularly as it relates to agriculture and the linkages in the Federal Reserve.

Repository: Minnesota Historical Society

Interview dates: 1991-1992

Digital access: Transcripts are available online.

Physical access: Audio tapes are kept at the Federal Reserve Bank Library in Minneapolis.

Link: http://collections.mnhs.org/voicesofmn/index.php/10002818

Marlboro Oral History Collection

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Project description: This collection contains dozens of interviews regarding Marlboro cigarettes, with a heavy focus on how cigarette advertising changed over time both in the U.S. and in other countries. The broad range of interviewees included executives of Philip Morris, advertising agency personnel from Leo Burnett, photographers, production staff, sales and marketing personnel, and Marlboro cowboys.

Regulatory significance: Uncertain, as the interviews are not available online, but this collection likely speaks to health and safety regulation of cigarettes, and particularly cigarette advertising.

Repository: National Museum of American History

Interview dates: bulk 1985-87, covering the 1930s to the 1980s.

Digital access: No online access.

Physical access: Holdings are available to researchers at the Archives Center of the National Museum of American History, in Washington, DC.

Link: http://amhistory.si.edu/archives/d7198.htm

Southern Agriculture Oral History Project

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Project description: This project interviewed 159 farmers across the South, focusing on changes in rural communities, technological change, and the financial challenges of farming.

Regulatory significance: At least some interviews from Mississippi include discussion of soil conservation programs. Some interviews likely include discussion of other commodity programs.

Repository: National Museum of American History

Interview dates: 1986-1991

Digital access: Only a handful of pictures are available online. No transcripts or audio.

Physical access: Holdings are available to researchers at the Archives Center of the National Museum of American History, in Washington, DC.

Link: http://amhistory.si.edu/archives/d9773.htm

USDA Oral History, 1993-2000

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Project description: This oral history collection was produced as part of a retrospective on the Clinton Department of Agriculture. Record does not specify the total number of interviewees for the project, but they include Secretaries of Agriculture Dan Glickman and Mike Espy.

Regulatory significance: Uncertain, given the lack of specificity in the finding aid.

Repository: National Agriculture Library

Interview dates: 2000 – 2001

Digital access: None

Physical access: For transcripts and audio, researchers may visit the National Agriculture Library in Washington, DC.

Link: No direct link. Search for “257” (collection number) on this page: https://www.nal.usda.gov/speccoll/collectionsguide/collection2.php?subject=Audiovisuals

Behind the Veil Project

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Project description: This project consists of more than 1,200 interviews conducted across the U.S. South in an effort to document African American daily life during the Jim Crow era.

Regulatory significance: Some of these interviews offer a glimpse at the role of federal regulation in attempting to redress racially discriminatory laws and practices in the Jim Crow South. A few highlight the role of local regulatory bodies, such as agricultural commissions and zoning boards, in perpetuating racial inequality.

Repository: Duke University

Interview dates: Mostly 1993-1997

Digital access: Some interviews are accessible online.

Physical access: Materials, including audio and some transcripts, are available at Duke University, Durham, NC. See the finding aid for more information about specific interviews and restrictions.

Link: http://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/findingaids/btv/