Have You Considered?

Have you considered using oral histories as sources for your paper or project? The South Dakota Oral History Center (SDOHC) contains stories from throughout South Dakota and its peoples—including Black Americans who have lived and worked in South Dakota.

The Black History oral histories at the SDOHC are comprised of thirty-four oral histories (about two-thirds have transcripts), virtually all of which were recorded in the 1970s. A little over one-third of the interviews are with Black women. Many of the interviews focus on the Civil Rights Movement in South Dakota during the 1960s, particularly in Sioux Falls and the Black Hills, but also other large towns  such as Yankton and Huron. Other topics include experiences of Black settlers, veterans, laborers, churches, as well as race relations.

"Patrons may read transcripts and listen to any audio files that we have here in the SDOHC, including those that do not have signed releases. We just cannot make copies of items that don't have copyright releases. So that's why we just encourage patrons to make an appointment to come visit us in person if they can and if they're interested in something that we find that does not have a copyright release,” Sam Herley, SDOHC Curator, explained.

To see of list of these with a brief explanation of those available digitally and listen to five excerpts, please see the SDOHC: Black History in South Dakota LibGuide.