The American Lives Project combines oral histories, historical documents, artifacts, sound and visual media in a searchable digital collection that creates a research environment for our multidisciplinary approach to the study of American culture.

The project is structured to break down barriers between categories of primary resources for research, study and teaching. A digital interface enables a fluid, immersive environment that allows users to see how the resources inform each other and the diverse ways we can "read" culture.

The prototype online exhibit, Student Activism at Washington University (1964-1972), focuses on the rise of student activism through such groups as the Association of Black Collegians (ABC), the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Smash-ROTC movement through alumni, faculty, and administration oral histories, personal papers and artifacts currently housed in University Archives. These documentary records will be complemented by media and publications, including Student Life, The Hatchet, and St. Louis newspapers, television and radio reports. Students will add to this collection by researching the time period and conducting additional oral histories. New materials will broaden the cultural contexts of these events and add local, regional and national perspectives. The final digital site will allow users to study these events from multiple perspectives.

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The Oral History Project is a collaboration between the American Culture Studies Program, the History Department, and Washington University Libraries. The program's focus centers on civil rights, citizenship, and activism, and neighborhood, religious, and ethnic communities.

The transcripts and audio for each oral history can be found at the American Lives Project, a resource for cultural inquiry that allows users to build connections and identify differences between materials. The project incorporates oral histories, historical documents, artifacts, sound and visual media into an online collection.

The Oral History Project is co-directed by Wayne Fields, Director of American Culture Studies, and Leslie Brown, Assistant Professor of History. Oral histories are conducted by undergraduates in the History Department and processed by the American Culture Studies Program. Analog materials are held by Washington University Libraries.

For a listing and description of our oral histories, as well as links to transcripts and streaming audio files, please choose from the following categories:

Civil Rights, Citizenship, and Activism

Neighborhood, Religious, and Ethnic Communities

This collaborative project and site, with the Missouri State Archives and St. Louis Circuit Clerk involves a massive collection of records dating back to the turn of the 19th century. Students from American Culture Studies have helped organize, catalog, and digitize these records. More recently, they have taken the lead in building a website that places these cases online with a keyword-searchable database. This electronic archive includes 81 cases related to Lewis & Clark and the Corps of Discovery, and over 280 freedom suits brought by slaves who sued for their freedom between 1814 and 1860, including the Dred Scott Case.

Visit the project