University of Rhode Island Centennial Oral History (Mss. Gr. 109)

The interviews in the Centennial Oral History collection are a continuation of the work begun in the 1970’s and were meant to provide a social history of URI. And according to Dr. James Findlay of the URI History Department in an October, 1992, University Pacer interview, the project wasn’t exclusively interested in an administrative history of the University. We wanted to compile the everyday recollections of students, faculty, and staff.

Some of the interviewees were involved in historic events on campus, such as the 1971 take over of the Administration building by African-American students and the faculty strike of 1979. Questions for historic events were meant to record the perceptions of the interviewees at the time of the events and how they have changed between then and the time of the interview.

Less dramatic events such as the changing attitudes towards women at URI and how the Women’s Center and the Women’s Studies Program at URI helped bring about those changes are also explored. The University of Rhode Island Oral History (Mss. Gr. 39) collection and this one provide a supplement to the University’s official history The University of Rhode Island: A History of Land-Grant Education in Rhode Island by Herman Eschenbacher that covers the years 1892 to 1967.