Obama Presidency Oral History archive opens to public

Columbia University on Feb. 17 announced that the Obama Presidency Oral History archive—compiled from hundreds of interviews with people reflecting on Obama’s historic presidency, as well as the lives of Barack and Michelle Obama—is open to the public.

Produced by Columbia’s Incite Institute, in collaboration with scholars at the University of Chicago and the University of Hawaii, the groundbreaking digital archive includes 450 conversations with officials, activists, artists, organizers, and everyday people. The 1,100 hours of audio and video span the President’s childhood in Hawaii, the Obamas’ years in Chicago and at UChicago, and their tenure in Washington, D.C.

The faculty directors of the work at UChicago were Adam Green, associate professor in the Departments of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity and History, and in the College, and Jacqueline Stewart, the Edward Carson Waller Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Cinema and Media Studies and in the College. The UChicago project director was Susan Sher, former senior advisor to the president at UChicago. The 23 oral histories they collected provide insights into the Obamas’ careers in Chicago—where Barack Obama was a community organizer and politician as well as a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School, and Michelle Obama was a senior leader at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

The interviews by UChicago scholars are available as a distinct subject heading on the Obama Presidency Oral History website. They include valuable records of perspectives on the Obamas from Chicago-based figures who have since died, including civil rights leader Timuel Black, AM’54; Chicago business leader James Crown; Chicago attorney Newton N. Minow; and Michelle Obama’s mother, Marian Robinson. Others interviewed by the UChicago scholars include Illinois State Senators John Cullerton and Emil Jones; U.S. Senator Dick Durbin; Michelle Obama’s brother, Craig Robinson; and former U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush.

“We sought to understand the ways that Chicago shaped not only the Obamas’ professional activities, but also their philosophies about work, family, and community,” Stewart said. “The individuals we were privileged to interview fleshed out the fundamental importance of Chicago, and the South Side in particular, in the trajectory of Barack and Michelle Obama’s lives and their national and global impact.”

More than 10,000 stories available 

The Obama archives encompass the experiences and actions of Americans and non-Americans, as well as those of top administration officials. The archive tells more than 10,000 stories: reminiscences of Obama supporters and opponents; of Democrats and Republicans; and of artists, mechanics, protest leaders, farmers, policy officials and refugees. 

“This archive,” said Peter Bearman, principal investigator for the project and director of Incite, “reminds us how the government can work to enrich the varied communities that make up our enormously complex world.” 

The Columbia-led interviews about the Obama presidency cover milestones such as the Affordable Care Act, the decision to increase troops in Afghanistan, and the deal limiting Iran’s nuclear enrichment efforts. The archive also illuminates dynamics between the White House and people who wrote personal letters to Obama about their economic hardships, health insurance, or the effects of gun violence on their lives. 

The interviews are available at the Obama Oral History website. All of the transcripts, video and audio of this archive also will be housed at the Obama Presidential Center when it opens in Chicago in June. 

—Adapted from a story first published by Columbia University.