Description
The Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education Oral History Collection consists of 29 oral history interviews conducted
in 2001 by Earl Caldwell with prominent black journalists that began their careers during the 1960s-1970s. A majority of the
interviewees worked at television stations or newspapers in California or New York and include interview with: Leandra Abbot,
Robert L. Allen, Ed Bradley, Audreen Buffalo, Mary Ellen Butler, Earl Caldwell, Belva Davis, Joy Elliot, Joy Elliot, George
Goodman, Al Harvin, Charles Hobson, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, Jane Tillman Irving, Lenore Jenkins-Allen, Jerri Lange, Claude
Lewis, Austin Long Scott, Nancy Hicks Maynard, Marquita Poole-Eckert, Dennis Richmond, Gil Scott, Robert Terrell, Wallace
Terry, Melba Tolliver, Mel Watkins, Hollie West, Ben Williams, and Valena Williams.
Background
The Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education Oral History Project began in 1999 with the Caudwell Journals, a
series of personal accounts written by journalist Earl Caldwell on his experiences working as a black journalist. The project
was expanded into an oral history project to document the experiences of other black journalists whose careers started during
the 1960s and 1970s. The project completed a total of 29 oral history interviews with black journalists mostly working in
California and New York and documents their experiences and struggles as journalists. The interviews were conducted in collaboration
with the Freedom First Amendment Center with funding from the John S. and James K. Knight Foundation.