Edward M. Kennedy Oral History ProjectOn December 6, 2004, the Kennedy Project was officially launched in a ceremony at the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. This oral history will create an archive of spoken recollections and reflections that illuminates Senator Kennedy's public life, his vocation, the institution in which he has served and the political world in which he has moved. The interviews are planned to cover a broad range of politically and biographically important topics, including Kennedy's pre-Senate years and learning of politics, his relationship to his brothers and their career choices, his rise to the Senate leadership, his political style, his Senate and presidential campaigns, his public causes and how he sought to advance them, and his legacy. In addition to interviews with Senator Kennedy, we will interview others who have known him in various contexts, from various vantage points and at various times in his life. We anticipate that other interviewees will include Kennedy's family members, friends, and classmates, relevant campaign staffers, state and national party officials, key members of his Senate office, selected members of Congress and the executive branch, intellectuals, journalists, community activists, and selected public figures from other countries. The end product will be a collection of transcripts and audio recordings of oral history interviews that includes three primary elements: Senator Kennedy's own recollections and observations, consisting of an extended series of recorded interviews with him; the individual recollections and observations of the individuals whose acquaintances or relationships with Kennedy have figured most prominently in his life and career; and the collective recollections and observations of the key individuals involved in selected political issues or episodes that have figured prominently in Senator Kennedy’s career, consisting of topically focused recorded interviews, each with a set of interviewees including the Senator James Sterling Young serves as Senior Director of the Kennedy Oral History Project. The Presidential Oral History Program directs and conducts all aspects of the Kennedy Project according to the stated Kennedy Project Policies and Procedures. The estimated duration of the Kennedy Project is approximately six years. Cleared transcripts will be released to scholars and the public after completion of the project and will be archived at the Edward M. Kennedy Center for the Study of the United States Senate, to the repository of Edward M. Kennedy's papers for its archives (the John F. Kennedy Library and/or another repository), and to the Miller Center's Scripps Library. News and EventsEdward M. Kennedy Oral History Project Launched On December 6, 2004, the Edward M. Kennedy Oral History Project was officially launched in a ceremony at the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. Historian Michael Beschloss, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Program Director James Sterling Young, and Senator Edward M. Kennedy each delivered remarks to the audience gathered to commemorate the opening of the project. |
|