Hearing voices: Baylor’s Institute for Oral History audio files going online

Since 1970, Baylor’s Institute for Oral History has been collecting and transcribing interviews to preserve historical memories for posterity; since 2008, many of those interview transcripts have been made available online for researchers and lovers of history.

Now, the Institute is taking things a step further by making the original audio files available online. Most of the collection’s audio is recorded on analog reels and cassette tapes, making digital conversions an expensive burden. But thanks to the growth of Baylor’s Riley Digitization Center, the university is now able to better handle such efforts on campus.

The first recordings to go online were conversations with a former Waco mayor conducted from 1975-77 and an interview with the Waco-born daughter of a freed slave from 1968. Other recent postings include interviews with former Congressman Bob Poage, BA ’21, and Warren Commission counsel Leon Jaworski, JD ’25, related to JFK’s assassination.

To learn more about the Institute of Oral History or to browse its collection, visit baylor.edu/oralhistory.

Sic ’em, Baylor historians!