Studs Terkel: Conversations with America

This site was created in honor of Studs Terkel, the noted oral historian, radio host of"The Studs Terkel Program," and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. It is dedicated to making Terkel's 50 years of work available.

The site presents material from approximately 5,000 hours of sound recordings. The seven galleries center on the extensive interviews Terkel completed for the radio show and his books. They contain more than 500 audio clips of interviews, most of which are about 15 minutes in length, that explore diverse subjects, including Chicago architecture, urban life in and around Chicago, urban landscape, immigrants, the 1929 stock market crash, organized labor, New Deal programs, the soldiers’ experience in World War II, nuclear war, race relations, and integration. Interviewees include Chicago architect Frank Lloyd Wright and labor activist Cesar Chavez as well as men and women on a train to Washington, D.C., for the 1963 Civil Rights March. Complementing this site is an educational section intended to help students and teachers use oral history in the classroom and a 55-minute interview with Terkel. This well-designed site offers a rich history of many influential, as well as lesser-known, personalities living in the second half of the 20th century and is beneficial to anyone interested in the Great Depression, World War II, race relations, and labor issues.

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