Behind the Veil Project

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/

Southern Rural Poverty Collection

Project description: This project contains more than 30 interviews with individuals who worked to address southern poverty in their communities up to the early 1990s. The focus of the interviews is on efforts after the passage of major federal civil rights legislation in 1964 and 1965, including those related to Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty.

Regulatory significance: Many of the interviewees discuss issues that stem from overlapping regulatory jurisdictions at the local, state, and federal level. Health care, housing, employment, and agriculture are major themes, and some interviewees discuss environmental regulation to improve the health of the rural poor.

RepositoryDuke University, DeWitt Wallace Center for Media and Democracy

Interview dates: 1992-1994

Digital access: Video recordings of the oral histories are available for many interviews, and transcripts are available for almost all of them.

Linkhttp://dewitt.sanford.duke.edu/rutherfurd-living-history/southern-rural-poverty-collection/