New York University Archives Collection on Faculty and Alumni Memory Projects
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Abstract
This collection consists of written and audio recorded memories of New York University (NYU) and Washington Square College professors, staff, and alumni which were carried out during the 1960s through the 1980s and collected under the auspices of the University Archives. These accounts were initially coordinated by NYU's Vice President and Secretary Thomas Pollack and later by Bayrd Still, historian and founding Director of the University Archives. A similar, connected project was carried out by former NYU student and writer Brian Huggins. The New York University Archives Collection on Faculty and Alumni Memory Projects (dated 1884-1990, bulk 1963-1978) includes audio recordings and letters written by University faculty, staff, and alumni describing their experiences at New York University and Washington Square College. The letters were sent to the University beginning in 1963, and later in the 1960s and early 1970s expanded into oral history interviews with the intent of preserving memories of those who were important to the history of the University in the 20th century. Interviewees include alumni, faculty, and administrators of the University such as James W. Armsey, Miguel de Capriles, Lucy Chamberlain, and James M. Hester. This collection also includes project proposals, audio recordings, correspondence, and notes related to a complementary off-shoot project on the experiences of University students conducted by Brian Huggins in 1977-1978. This project intended to document the student experience at the University during the early to mid-20th century. These interviews were intended to be resources for a book on student life for the sesquicentennial anniversary of the University. This project was not completed as originally conceived.
Historical Note
The New York University Archives has collected documentation of multiple interrelated projects carried out in the early 1960s through the 1980s focused on recording the remembrances of NYU and Washington Square College professors, staff, and alumni about their experiences during the early to mid-20th century.
NYU's Vice President and Secretary Thomas Pollack initiated a project to gather remembrances and stories specifically about Washington Square College departments through their professors and general staff. These recollections were initially requested in 1963 through New York University publications.
In the late 1960s to the 1980s Bayrd Still, Director of the University's Archive Office conducted interviews with the intent of documenting memories of those who worked at and attended the University during the 20th century. The University worked closely with the Columbia University Oral History Program on this project.
In the late 1970s, an off-shoot of this project was conducted by Brian Huggins, a former NYU student and writer. After Huggins received positive responses to articles he wrote about NYU student experiences during the early 20th century he decided to write a history of NYU undergraduate student life, to be published during the University's sesquicentennial anniversary.
Arrangement
This collection is organized into three series. Within each series, files are arranged alphabetically by subject's last name.
Series I. Faculty Memories Project
Series II. University Oral History Project and Related Materials
Series III. Brian Huggins Undergraduate Student Life in Washington Square Project
Scope and Contents
The New York University Archives Collection on Faculty and Alumni Memory Projects (dated 1884-1990, bulk 1963-1978) includes written accounts and oral history interviews from University faculty and alumni describing their experiences within various departments at New York University (NYU) and Washington Square College during the early to mid-20th century. A 1963 project initiated by NYU's Vice President and Secretary Thomas Pollack gathered remembrances and stories of Washington Square College departments through letters sent from professors and general staff. This collection also contains recorded oral history interviews and related written material from faculty and administrators dating from the late 1960s to the 1980s which were coordinated by Bayrd Still, Director of the University Archive Office, who was also one of the primary interviewers. Talking points of these interviews include department and school histories and their faculty; interactions between professors; student life experiences; clubs; atheletics; experiences of female professors and students; and reflections on historical events such as world wars and the Great Depression of the 1930s. These interviews are in the form of audio recordings and transcripts, as well as interview questions, notes, and correspondence.
This collection also contains material related to a project conducted by Brian Huggins on the undergraduate student life experience at NYU. Audio recordings in this collection include alumni interviews dating from 1977 to 1978 containing remembrances from the Classes of 1909 to 1942. Additionally, the collection contains correspondence, project proposals, and work notes.
Subjects
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
This collection is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use materials in the collection in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
Rights to the oral history interviews are retained by the interviewees, except for Ellen Marie Barrett, whose signed release form is in the collection's curatorial file.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; New York University Archives Collection on Faculty and Alumni Memory Projects; MC 226; box number; folder number or item identifier; New York University Archives, New York University.
Custodial History
This collection was created by NYU University Archives Staff, who grouped the files due to their connections to each other, and more than likely began storing them together starting in the 1980s. Brian Huggins was involved in the early oral history project and his proceeding project in the late 1970s was encouraged and supported by Bayrd Still, Director of the University Archives.
Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures
Access to some audiovisual materials in this collection is available through digitized access copies. Researchers may view an item's original container, but the media themselves are not available for playback because of preservation concerns. Materials that have already been digitized are noted in the collection's finding aid and can be requested in our reading room.
Audiovisual materials that have not been preserved may not be available to researchers. Materials not yet digitized will need to have access copies made before they can be used. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact the New York University Archives, special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596 with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.
Appraisal
The following were separated from the collection: Memoirs and reminiscences of the late Prof. George Bush (1860); NYU's Stern School of Business: A Centennial Retrospective (1995); and a group of folders containing basic/publicly available information on high-profile NYU donors and their related campus building projects.
Three interviewee release forms were identified (Mary Siegel, Lillian Hornstein, and Ellen Marie Barrett), removed from the collection, and returned to the curator to be stored in the collection file.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Materials were placed in new acid-free folders and boxes. Interviewee files were reviewed for subject release forms and three were identified (Mary Siegel, Lillian Hornstein, and Ellen Marie Barrett), removed from the collection, and returned to the curator to be stored in the collection file. The audiotapes were arranged in alphabetical order by subject name within each series, labeled, and placed in appropriate housing. Files containing photocopies of basic/publicly available information on high-profile NYU donors and related campus building projects were found to have no connection to any of the projects in this collection and were removed.
In December 2024, Public Services staff discovered a selection of donor-related correspondence within a file in the collection (Washington Square College Newspapers). The items were removed and placed in the collection file. Staff also found material related to 2 additional people within the Lucy Chamberlain file. Those items were removed and placed in their own separate folders (Bierstedt and Warner) and listed in the inventory.