Preservation Assessment of Audio Materials in the Paul F. Cooper, Jr. Archives

FAIN: PG-51155-11

Hartwick College (Oneonta, NY 13820-4000)
Rebekah Ambrose-Dalton (Project Director: May 2010 to November 2012)

Hiring a consultant to assess the preservation needs of 140 audiotapes selected from four special collections in the Paul F. Cooper, Jr. Archives that contain oral histories dating to the 1970s and interviews with national and international figures, such as Alex Haley, Ferdinand Marcos, and Chiang Kai-shek.

This grant would make it possible to have a professional conservator visit the Paul F. Cooper, Jr. Archives at Hartwick College and survey the audio materials included in the collections. These materials include interviews of several prominent politicians in Asia during the 1970s and 1980s by a professional journalist and foreign correspondent for Time/Life, interviews of several prominent feminists in the United States in the 1970s by a professional historian who was a member of the Hartwick faculty, a collection of interviews of residents of neighboring Delaware County documenting local folklore that also dates from the 1970s, and numerous oral history interviews and other documentation of the history of Hartwick College. The majority of these materials are currently unavailable to researchers due to their fragile condition. The project represents a crucial first step in preserving these important materials, and making them accessible to researchers.