Debra Bernhardt Oral History Collection
Call Number
Date
Creator
Extent
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Language of Materials
Abstract
Debra Bernhardt (1953-2001) was the head of the Tamiment Library and the Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives. In her more than twenty years of accumulating records and photographs of organizations that represent labor history in New York City, Bernhardt also conducted and collected hundreds of oral history interviews with working people and their allies. The Debra Bernhardt Oral History Collection (2001) contains the audio recordings of an interview with Debra Bernhardt conducted by Janet Wells Greene, Director of the Harry Van Arsdale Labor History Project in March 2001. The interviews were conducted over 2 days and recorded at Roosevelt Hospital in New York City during the last week of her life before she passed away. Greene was primarily the interviewer, but the interview sessions frequently included conversations between Bernhardt and friends and family. This collection also includes an audio recording of an Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives Board of Directors Annual Board Meeting on March 5, 2001.
Biographical Note
Debra Bernhardt (1953-2001) was head of the Tamiment Library and the Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives at New York University. Her career focused on documenting the lives of the workers who built New York City.
She was the author, with Rachel Bernstein, of Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives (New York University Press, 2000), a book of photographs and oral histories of working New Yorkers that came out of an exhibition of the same name at the Museum of the City of New York.
Sources: Radical History Review article, "The Making of a "Practical Radical": An Interview with Debra E. Bernhardt" (2001, Issue 81, Duke University Press) (viewed April 11, 2025: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/30185) and New York Times (viewed April 11, 2025: https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/26/nyregion/debra-bernhardt-47-dies-a-historian-for-the-unsung.html)
Arrangement
Materials are arranged starting with the Board of Directors Meeting, followed by the master recordings and copies in numerical order.
Scope and Contents
The Debra Bernhardt Oral History Collection (2001) contains audio recordings of interviews with Bernhardt, who was the head of the Tamiment Library and the Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives for over 20 years. These interviews were conducted by Janet Wells Greene, Director of the Harry Van Arsdale Labor History Project in March 2001. The interviews took place over two days and were recorded at Roosevelt Hospital in New York City during the last week of Bernhardt's life before she passed away. Greene was primarily the interviewer, but these sessions also include conversations between Bernhardt and friends and family as they came to visit her. This collection also includes an audio recording of a Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives Annual Board Meeting on March 5, 2001. Exerpts from this interview can be found in an article by Greene that was published in the Radical History Review in 2001 titled "The Making of a "Practical Radical": An Interview with Debra E. Bernhardt".
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives are maintained by New York University. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives. Please contact Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Debra Bernhardt Oral History Collection; OH 043; box number; folder number or item identifier; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives through Janet Green, Director of the Harry Van Arsdale Labor History Project in 2001. The accession number associated with this collection is 2001.004.
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 NYU Special Collections (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.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Decisions regarding arrangement, description, and physical interventions for this collection prior to 2025 are unknown.
In July 2025, audiotapes were labeled with unique identifiers that were generated by ArchivesSpace. Individual listings were added to the inventory, in preparated for digitization of the recordings. Required collection notes were edited or added to the record.
In March 2026, the period of access restrictions for this collection ended.
Revisions to this Guide
Repository
View Inventory
Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives Board Meeting, March 5, 2001
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Duration: 94 min
Audio
Interview -- Mastertape 1, March 13, 2001
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Duration: 49 min
Audio
Interview -- Mastertape 2, March 15, 2001
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Duration: 95 min
Audio
Interview -- Mastertape 3, March 13, 2001
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Duration: 48 min; Preservation Note: Side 2 of the tape is blank
