Local History

The Henrietta Oral History Project

Oral history is a field of study pertaining to the collection of living people’s voices and memories of their own experiences with people and communities in past events.  Oral history gives one a sense of accomplishment; through oral history, we have a sense of catching and holding something valuable from the receding tide of the past.

In 1984, active Henrietta community resident Cynthia Goldstein set out to capture Henrietta’s history from the perspective of individuals who had a long-standing relationship with the town.  She met with and gathered the reflections of several notable people.  Her interviews were captured on audiocassette tape and then donated to the Henrietta Public Library to augment to the established collection of local history materials. 

In 2007, staff at the Henrietta Public Library decided to give those voices and memories new life, by making them more readily accessible to the public.  All oral history interviews were transcribed by our generous and hard-working volunteer Nan Porter, and the audiocassette tapes were transferred to a digital format by trained sound engineer Robert Newland .  The transcribed interviews and audio clips of the oral histories may be accessed below:

Don W. Cook

Marian Deuel

Rose Hall and Ann Hall

Esther Kroeger

Stephen McNall

Estelle Smith

Ruth Van Ostrand

For more information about local history resources and the Henrietta Oral History Project, contact the Henrietta Public Library at 359-7092.