ACRL College & Researc Libraries News

COLLEGE & RESEARCH LIBRARIES

CORNELL PROGRAM

Cornell University libraries has started a program designed to foster a better understanding of the events of April 19 and following at Cornell. The libraries’ Oral History Program and University Archives are cooperating in the project which will be undertaken in two phases. The first is the collection and organizing of written materials pertaining to events preceding and following the seizure of Willard Straight Hall by Cornell black students on April 19. The second phase is the use of oral history interviews to obtain pertinent data not obtained in the first phase. The materials are being collected with the expectation that the events will be of interest to scholars and the general public for many years, Gould P. Colman, director of the Oral History Program, said. Materials being sought include not only reports on dramatic events such as the Willard Straight seizure, but also reports on formal or informal meetings where the governance of the University was discussed.