Upstate Oral History Program

The mission of the Archives and Special Collections of the Health Sciences Library is to preserve records that document the history, organization, policies, activities, and people of Upstate Medical University and Hospital, and its predecessor institutions, and the history of medicine, especially in central New York; and to make those records available to researchers.

The Archival holdings are incomplete, due in some part to the transition of ownership throughout the Medical School's history and in greater part to inconsistent record-keeping practices. To fill the voids in the documentary record, an Oral History program was started in 2015 and seeks participants with vast institutional knowledge.

Oral history is also suited to capturing under-documented perspectives. The Archives actively encourage minorities and those with diverse experiences to add their narratives to our holdings. Interviews are centered on the interviewee's medical, scientific or academic careers, with a focus on their time spent at Upstate Medical University.

An oral history session is typically scheduled for two hours, with additional recording sessions planned if needed. The interviews are conducted in the Archives & Special Collections department offices in the Health Sciences Library. Off-site interviews are possible by special request. The interviews are video recordings conducted by a trained Archivist. If you are interested in participating in an oral history interview, please use the contact information provided.

A Deed of Gift and Oral History Release must be completed prior to recording. These documents are available below.

• Archives & Special Collections Deed of Gift 

  This document must be completed by anyone donating material to the Archives. This includes participation in an oral history interview, which becomes the property of the Archives & Special Collections Department.

• Oral History Release 

  This form allows for the recording of the oral history interview and provides the interviewee with some control over how the interview is used or shared in the future.

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