The Caldwell County Oral History Collection was established in July 1976 by the Voluntary Action Center of Caldwell County and received enough funding from the Texas Departments of Health, Education, and Welfare to support a small staff. From 1976 to 1977 local volunteers interviewed approximately 200 elderly persons in Caldwell County about the history of the county. The volunteers recorded people of all ethnic origins and from all walks of life such as farmers, teachers, public officials, city workers, and professionals. Interviewees discussed diverse topics concerning local history such as family history, town history, occupational history, folklore, religious history, animal lore, civic groups, philosophical viewpoints, special ethnic events or festivals, agricultural history, and oil history.
The Caldwell County (Texas) Oral History Collection, 1976-1977, consists of 220, 90-minute audiocassette tapes, which pertain to the local history of Caldwell County. The tapes are cataloged and indexed alphabetically by the last name of the memoirist. A detailed index to the collection can be found in the holding record.
The collection is open for research use.
Caldwell County (Texas) Oral History Collection, 1976-1977, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.
Copies of the tapes are also cataloged at the
Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s “History Revealed: Bringing Collections to Light project,” 2009-2011.