Minnesota Psychiatry Oral History Project

Project description: The project involved 35 interviews with Minnesota psychiatrists. Per the finding aide, the interviews begin with recollections of the 1940s and 1950s and trace the progress of medicines, the perception of mental illness, and practice of psychiatrists in rural and urban Minnesota.

Regulatory significance: Many of the interviewees played key roles in the Minnesota Psychiatric Association and the Minnesota Medical Association, and the collection speaks to regulatory issues of professional legitimization through licensing practices and self-regulatory organizations.

RepositoryMinnesota Historical Society

Interview dates: 1979, 2009-2011

Digital access: Transcripts and audio are available online.

Physical access: Original audio tapes are kept at the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Linkhttp://collections.mnhs.org/voicesofmn/index.php/10003896

Computer Oral History Collection

Project description: This project began in 1967 with the main objective to collect, document, house, and make available for research source material surrounding the development of the computer. The project collected taped oral interviews with individuals who figured prominently in developing or advancing the computer field.

Regulatory significance: At least some interviews speak to issues of private regulatory processes related to standardization of computer language, hardware, etc. A fuller survey of this collection is needed to assess the degree to which it addresses governmental regulation of the computer industry.

RepositoryNational Museum of American History

Interview dates: 1969-1973, 1977

Digital access: Dozens of online transcripts are available.

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

Linkhttp://amhistory.si.edu/archives/AC0196.htm

The Financial Crisis

Project description: Conducted by PBS Frontline with Duke University’s DeWitt Wallace Center for Media and Democracy, this collection of more than 20 interviews includes many prominent academics, businessmen, and regulators regarding the financial crisis of 2007-2008.

Regulatory significance: These interviews are some of the first available specifically on the financial crisis of 2007-2008. The series presents a variety of perspectives on the crisis and the role of regulation (and deregulation) both in causing the crisis and in its response.

RepositoryDuke University, DeWitt Wallace Center for Media and Democracy

Interview dates: 2009-2012

Digital access: Edited transcripts are available online, though navigating them is made more cumbersome by the construct of the Frontline website. Approximately eight interviews are available in full as video.

Linkhttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/oral-history/financial-crisis/

Benedum and the Oil Industry Project

Project description: A record of the oil industry from 1890 to 1950 as shown in the development of the Benedum oil interests and the experiences of Michael Late Benedum (1869-1959) and his associates, notably Joseph Clifton Trees (1869-1943). The material consists of interviews with people having special knowledge of leasing, financing, geology, oil and gas production, legal and tax problems. The interviews contain several accounts of Benedum and Trees as wildcatters; problems of oil exploration outside the U.S. (Mexico, 1911-1916, Colombia, 1915, Rumania, 1918-1919, the Philippines, 1920, and China, 1936); development of companies and corporate holdings; storage, transportation, marketing, and refining; and conservation and proration practices leading to Interstate Oil Compact Commission, 1933. [Description from finding aid]

Regulatory significance: The project provides a glimpse at the emergence and development of oil industry regulation during the early 20th century. It likely addresses to a limited degree how oil companies navigated uneven regulatory terrain across states in the U.S. and across national boundaries while exploring for oil in Mexico, Colombia, Rumania, the Philippines, and China. Additionally, the collection promises some discussion of standardization and self-regulatory organizations.

Repository: Columbia Center for Oral History

Interview dates: Circa 1951

Digital access: Only abstracts. No online transcripts or audio.

Physical access: For transcripts and audio, researchers may visit the Columbia Center for Oral History.

Linkhttp://oralhistoryportal.cul.columbia.edu/document.php?id=ldpd_4072325

Interviewees: John Charles Adams; William W. Arnold; Darwin Benedum; James Claxton Benedum; Michael Late Benedum; Paul Benedum; Sophie and Pearl Benedum; Charles E. Beyer; Al A. Buchanan; Clem S. Clarke; A.B. Dally, Jr.; Margaret E. Davis; John W. Dieringer; Bascom Giles; William Morris Griffith; Walter Simms Hallanan; Houston Harte; Harry B. Hickman; David Dean Johnson; Caswell S. Jones, Thomas J. Newlin and Alex U. McCandless; William J. Jones; Winchester Kelso; W. B. Lane and Roy Gardner; Charles A. MCClintock; Will E. Odom; Alexander P. Olivey; Foster B. Parriott; Andrew Donaldson Robb; Ovid Daniel Robinson; Frank B. Shepard; Tom Slick; Ernest A. Stiller; Milton E. Witherspoon.

Texas Cotton Farmers

Project description: This project includes fourteen interviews with cotton farmers in central Texas. The primary focus is on technological change, industry organization, and global markets for cotton. Most interviewees discuss their family history and how they came to cotton farming before delving into specifics of farming and the cotton business.

Regulatory significance: Some interviews include discussion of cotton allotments, subsidy payments, farmer cooperatives, and international standard setting for cotton grades by industry organizations.

Repository: The Institute for Oral History at Baylor University

Interview dates: 2006-2007

Digital access: These interviews have digital transcripts available online.  (Two of the fourteen are not yet digitized.)

Physical access: For audio, researchers may visit the Institute for Oral History at Baylor University.

Linkhttp://digitalcollections.baylor.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/buioh/id/3844/rec/1