Preservation and Celebration with the ‘Lower East Side Oral History Project’
Seward Park Library, Jan. 2015
The New York Public Library’s Lower East Side Oral History Project is officially up and running. And ready to celebrate. The recently-launched neighborhood history project aims to document and preserve LES history through the eyes of its inhabitants. The locals. You know, not the droves who hole up in Hell Square on the weekends.
Community volunteers have been trained to interview these featured neighbors, and said interviews will be preserved at The Milstein Division of US History, Local History and Genealogy and also accessible at the New York Public Library website.
A kick-off celebration for this project is happening tonight from 6-8pm at Seward Park Library. It’ll include audio highlights from the oral histories recorded thus far, local music from Oren Bloedow, and a 16mm neighborhood film of the 1974 LES-based Yudie. You’ll also get to check out images from the LES Heritage Collection and share your own stories on a Lower East Side neighborhood story map.
The library is still looking for people to get involved with this project; if interested, email NYPLOralHistory@nypl.org for further info.
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