Begun in 1964 with a grant from the Carnegie Corporation, the oral history program is one of the oldest continuing activities of the John F. Kennedy Library. Modeled on the Columbia University oral history program, its goal is to collect, preserve, and make available interviews conducted with individuals who have recollections of events and people associated with John F. Kennedy. The tapes and transcripts are meant to be a supplement to documentary research and are best used in conjunction with other library holdings.
The collection totals more than 1,100 interviews. Interviews that have been transcribed and accessioned by the library are
listed alphabetically
by the last name of the person interviewed. They are open to research on an unrestricted basis unless otherwise indicated. Any restrictions on access, copying, or quotation are set by the interviewee as a condition of granting the interview and for permitting it to be included in the collection. Restrictions are largely self-explanatory. Additional listings are made as interviews are accessioned or opened to research.
Oral history interviews have become part of the permanent historical record of our culture, and promote an increased appreciation of America's political and cultural heritage, the process of governing and the importance of public service. In creating and accepting such interviews into the John F. Kennedy Library we accept the responsibility for preserving the materials and making them accessible to researchers.
Interviews are not intended primarily for publication, nor are they intended to be memorials to President Kennedy. They are meant to contribute to a more complete understanding of John F. Kennedy's life, of his Presidency, and of the major events and personalities of his time. Wide-ranging, the Oral History Collection includes interviews with members of Congress, administration officials, national, state, and local political leaders, business and labor leaders, journalists, civil rights leaders, foreign government officials, private individuals and even people who opposed Kennedy administration policies.
The Collection includes a lengthy series of interviews about Robert F. Kennedy concentrating on his role as advisor to John F. Kennedy, as Attorney General of the United States, Senator from New York, and candidate for the Presidency in 1968.
The Collection also contains copies of interviews conducted by other institutions such as the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library, Columbia University, the U.S. Senate Historical Office and others.
In most cases, the interviewee reviews the transcript and makes some changes or corrections to the verbatim record prior to its release for research use. These are chiefly additions or corrections of fact or modifications in the flow of thought. In some cases, there are deletions or additions of substantive material. The transcript, therefore, represents the interviewee's considered judgment as to what he or she believes should stand as the historical record. For this reason, although researchers may listen to reference copies of tapes of unrestricted interviews for background information, citation and quotation are limited to the final transcript form.
Each person interviewed may attach conditions to the use of the tape and transcript of his or her interview. These conditions are incorporated into a legal agreement between the interviewee and the National Archives and are scrupulously followed by the staff of the Kennedy Library.