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Dorothy Vann Oral History Collection

 Collection
Identifier: 23-1

Scope and Contents

The Dorothy Vann Oral History Collection contains audio recordings created by Dorothy Vann who recorded interviews with residents of Chicago North Park neighborhood. The bulk of these recordings are from the 1970s and 1980s and were interviews conducted with long time residents of the North Park neighborhood. They document the neighborhood, North Park College (now North Park University), North Park Covenant Church, and Swedish-American aspects of the neighborhood.

Dates

  • 1977 - 1996

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

There are no access restrictions on the materials and the collection is open to all members of the public. However, the researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright that may be involved in the use of this collection.

Extent

74 Sound Recordings (Audio Cassette Tapes)

50.3 Gigabytes (442 Files, 223 Folders)

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

Archival staff have arranged this collection by the person being interviewed and all records - the original audio cassette tapes created by Vann as well as derivative records including transcripts and digital audio recordings created by archival staff - are described together.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

As a preservation measure, researchers must use the digital audio recordings and not the original audio cassette tapes.

Existence and Location of Copies

In 2020 and 2021, a grant from the Illinois State Historical Records Advisory Board allowed the archives to create digital copies of these audio tapes. Online access to the collection: Dorothy Vann Collection of Oral Histories.

Separated Materials

Audio recordings related to Dorothy Vann's geneaological research were transferred to the Dorothy Vann Papers (13/5). Audio recordings of North Park Covenant Church services were transferred to the church collection (8/2/10/23).

Processing Information

These records were received in the archives in 2000. Archival staff assigned each tape a unique identifying number and processed the tapes into a general collection of audio cassette tapes. Archival staff also created transcripts for several interviews.

In 2020, these tapes were re-processed from the general audio cassette tape collection into a discrete collection of just Dorothy Vann's Oral History recordings. Unique identifying numbers from the former collection were retained as the case numbers. In 2020 and 2021, a grant from the Illinois State Historical Records Advisory Board allowed the archives to create digital copies of these audio tapes.

Creator

Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Sponsor
Supported in part by an award from the Illinois State Historical Records Advisory Board, through funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, National Archives and Records Administration

Repository Details

Part of the Evangelical Covenant Church and North Park University Archives Repository

Contact:
North Park University
Brandel Library - Lower Level
3225 W Foster Ave Box 38
Chicago IL 60625 USA