Tag Archives: state

Perspectives on Modern Regulatory Governance Oral History Project

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Project description: An oral history project developed by Edward Balleisen that examines broad trends in regulatory governance since 1970.  Multi-session interviews conducted thus far have included two former OIRA administrators and two former regulators for the state of North Carolina.  The project is in ongoing development with new oral histories to be conducted each year.

Regulatory significance: Every interview addresses how informants came to understand the complex workings of regulatory institutions, the balance of technocratic expertise and democratic participation in regulatory policy-making, and the evolution of regulatory strategies and policy instruments, in conjunction with intellectual currents, shifting scientific and economic epistemologies, and wider faith in (or suspicion of) government.

Interview dates: 2012 –

Digital access: Transcripts and supplementary materials available through the Regulatory Oral History Hub

Series I: OIRA Administrators
Sally Katzen
John D. Graham

Series II : North Carolina
Robin W. Smith
Amy Pickle

Texas House Speakers Oral History Project

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Project description: The project overview indicates that the primary emphasis of these interviews is on party politics and the power of the Speaker of the House in Texas politics, covering the era from 1951 to the present. The overview does not indicate specific legislation or policy areas covered. These issues seem to be of secondary importance to party and institutional concerns.

Repository: University of Texas – Austin

Interview dates: 1992, 2004 – 2006

Digital access: No online access.

Physical access: For access to interview materials, visit the Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas.

Link: Project overview, finding aid

Agriculture in Mississippi

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Project description: The Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage at the University of Southern Mississippi houses many interviews related to agriculture in Mississippi, including interviews pertaining to agriculture, industry and commerce, and interviews with African American farmers.

Regulatory significance: Many interviewees discuss government regulation of their businesses, often in a negative context and as an additional reason for competitive problems during the 1970s and 1980s.

Repository: University of Southern Mississippi

Digital access: No online access.

Physical access: For access to interview materials, visit the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Link: http://www.usm.edu/oral-history/oral-history-collections-z#Agriculture%20in%20Mississippi

University of North Texas Legislative Project

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Project description: This project was established by the Oral History program of North Texas State University in 1966, and it was still ongoing in 1985. The program appears to be discontinued now and the interviews absorbed into the broader UNT oral history program archives.

Regulatory significance: The project interviewed legislators and other state government officials, including regulatory board and commission members. Interviews occurred every two years, at the close of biennial legislative sessions and topics ranged across the spectrum of policy issues encountered during the session. (For a detailed description of project history and methodology, see Ronald E. Marcello, “Interviewing Contemporary Texas Legislators: An Atypical Approach,” The Public Historian 7:4 (Fall 1985): 53-64.)

Repository: University of North Texas

Interview dates: 1966 ~ 1990

Digital access: No online access. The UNT interview guide (linked below) has abstracts of archived interviews, including those produced though the Legislative Project.

Physical access: For access to transcripts, visit the Wills Library at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas.

Link: There is no dedicated link to this project, but see this pdf oral history guide for information that includes these interviews.

North Carolina Business History Project

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Project description: These interviews are with leaders of traditional and emergent North Carolina industries, such as furniture, banking, tobacco products, textiles, poultry, food and food services, tourism, pharmaceuticals, computers, and steel. Interviewees describe the origins and evolution of their companies as well as the changes and problems they confront. They are also asked about the impact of businesses on the communities in which they operate and about the regional, national, and global developments that will affect their future prospects. [Description from the finding aid]

Regulatory significance: Many interviewees discuss government regulation of their businesses, often in a negative context and as an additional reason for competitive problems during the 1970s and 1980s.

Repository: University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

Interview dates: 1995 – 1997

Digital access: Transcripts for many of these interviews are available online.

Physical access: For access to all audio and archived material, visit the Southern Historical Collection at the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC.

Link: North Carolina Business History Project

Bourbon in Kentucky Oral History Collection

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Project description: This collection chronicles two Kentucky distilleries, Buffalo Trace and Jim Beam, with interviews from family members, employees, and local historians. Topics addressed in the collection include the history and process of bourbon production, governmental regulations of bourbon, the industry’s economic struggles and successes, family involvement in the companies, and the industry’s effect on the community.

Repository: University of Kentucky

Digital access: Thirteen interviews about the Buffalo Trace Distillery are accessible online as video with transcripts.

Physical access: For complete access to transcripts and audio, visit the Special Collections Library at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.

Link: http://kentuckyoralhistory.org/collections/bourbon-kentucky-oral-history-collection

Florida Growth Management Oral History Collection

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Project description: This project documents issues involved in growth management in Florida, particularly as they relate to planned community design and the environment. Interviewees include a banker, a professor of architecture, lobbyists, and a land developer.

Regulatory significance: These interviews cover a range of regulatory topics related to growth management and the environment, particularly water quality and beach erosion.

Repository: University of Florida

Interview dates: ~2000

Digital access: Transcripts are available online for four of these interviews. One interview is only available as an audio file.

Physical access: For access to all transcripts and audio, visit Pugh Hall at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida.

Link: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/ohfgm

Everglades Oral History Collection

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Project description: This project documents issues involved in the restoration of the Everglades. Discussion topics center on influence of and coordination between environmental groups, lobbying by environmental groups, pesticides and mercury levels, water conservation, growth management, relationship between National Park Service and Army Corps of Engineers, Everglades Forever Act, Save Our Everglades, use of aquatic crops, drought and flood conditions, role of scientists in restoration, obstacles to restoration, sugar industry, various taxes, comprehensive plans and task forces, public education, aquifer storage and recovery, and lessons learned. [Description from finding aid]

Regulatory significance: This collection provides rich insight into environmental regulation, particularly the regulation of water, chemicals, and run-off from agriculture and land development.

Repository: University of Florida

Interview dates: 2001 – 2002

Digital access: Transcripts are available online. Audio for at least one interview is as well.

Physical access: For access to all transcripts and audio, visit Pugh Hall at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida.

Link: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/ohevg

Florida Water Management

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Project description: The St. John’s River Project interviews focus on “ranching families in the greater Orlando area.” However, a broader, ongoing project has grown out of this to “conduct oral history interviews relating to the history of Florida’s water management districts.”

Regulatory significance: This collection sheds light on the creation and operation of water management districts in Florida. According to the Florida Department of State, water management districts “are authorized to administer flood protection programs and to perform technical investigations into water resources. The districts are also authorized to develop water management plans for water shortages in times of drought and to acquire and manage lands for water management purposes under the Save Our Rivers program. Regulatory programs delegated to the districts include programs to manage the consumptive use of water, aquifer recharge, well construction and surface water management.”

Repository: University of Florida

Interview dates: 2003 – 2006

Digital access: Transcripts are available online for 17 interviews on water management.

Physical access: For access to all transcripts and audio, visit Pugh Hall at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida.

Link: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/ohfwm/all

Water for Los Angeles and California Water Resources Development

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Project description: Interviews in the California Water Resource Development project were conducted to “document historical developments in California’s water resources” with a focus on planning, administration, and policy making. Water for LA interviews are part of the broader California project, but address issues specific to the Los Angeles area and are presented separately on the UCLA website.

Repository: University of California – Los Angeles

Interview dates: 1965 – 1967; ~1986 – 1988

Digital access: Partial. Transcripts and audio for some of these interviews are available online.

Physical access: For access to all transcripts and audio, visit UCLA’s Charles E. Young Research Library Department of Special Collections.

Links: California Water Resources Development; Water for Los Angeles

Ronald Reagan Gubernatorial Era

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Project description: This is the catch all for interviews housed at the Regional Oral History Office (ROHO) at UC – Berkeley related to Ronald Reagan’s gubernatorial administration from 1967 – 1975. ROHO also lists relevant interviews housed at other California repositories.

Regulatory significance: Interviews cover a variety of regulatory topics, including consumer affairs, financial regulation, health care, and farm labor conditions.

Repository: University of California – Berkeley

Interview dates: 1980 – 1989

Digital access: Transcripts for interviews housed at ROHO 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/pol_gov/reagan.html

Interviews on California Water Resources

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Project description: This is the catch all for interviews housed at the Regional Oral History Office (ROHO) at UC – Berkeley related to water resources in California. Most of the interviews are with government officials, politicians, conservationists, and academics.

Regulatory significance: These interviews deal in depth with regulatory strategies to conserve water and improve water quality across the 20th century. Interviewees include managers of the Metropolitan Water District, the Department of Water Resources, and various policy entrepreneurs.

Repository: University of California – Berkeley

Interview dates: 1957 – 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/natres/ca_water.html

Interviews on Agricultural History

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Project description: This is the catch all for interviews housed at the Regional Oral History Office (ROHO) at UC – Berkeley related to agricultural history in California. For more on agricultural regulation in California from ROHO, see the project Reminiscences on People and Change in California Agriculture, 1900-1975.

Regulatory significance: Some interviews discuss state and federal agriculture, natural resource, and conservation policies and programs. Interviewees include AAA officials, land owners, farmers, and participants in local soil conservation and irrigation districts. See especially interviews on the AAA and cotton with Wofford Camp and Cully Cobb.

Repository: University of California – Berkeley

Interview dates: 1955 – 2003

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/natres/agriculture.html

California and Regional Land-Use Planning

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Project description: This is the catch all for interviews housed at the Regional Oral History Office at UC – Berkeley related to land-use and planning. These range from interviews with architects, ranchers, land developers, conservationists, state attorneys, and government planners.

Regulatory significance: These interviews provide considerable insight into the evolution of local and regional land-use planning from a wide variety of perspectives. Resource management—particularly water and soil—is a heavy focus, as is coordination among various agencies and levels of government. One set of interviews focuses on the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. Several interviews look at resource management and land-use planning in other countries, including Greece, China, Israel and parts of Africa and Latin America.

Repository: University of California – Berkeley

Interview dates: 1965 – present

Digital access: Transcripts for most of 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/natres/landuse.html

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