New Birth of Freedom

Your Story is Important to Us

Oral histories are an integral part of what we do as historians. Our exhibit, "New Birth of Freedom: Civil War to Civil Rights in California," spans a huge era, but one that is vitally important to the history of California.

What does this have to do with you? Maybe you participated in the civil rights movement or perhaps you have stories handed down from one generation to the next about the Civil War. Either way, we want to hear about it. Please take a moment to tell us your story.

Before you begin, read the "Terms of Service" located to the right; then post your comments in the space below. If you want to know a little more about us and what we do please visit the links listed on the right: "Center for Oral and Public History" and "Nikkei Heritage Museum."

Thank you for taking the time to visit our site and our exhibition.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

May 4th, 4pm - 7:30pm @ the Arboretum, Nikkei Heritage Museum

Come out and join us at the Arboretum! The exhibit received raves last week at our grand opening and tonight the fun continues. Come out for an opportunity to speak with oral historians and share your story!

Saturday, April 9, 2011

We Want to Hear from You...

The "New Birth of Freedom: Civil War to Civil Rights in California" exhibit is based, in part, on oral histories. Our curators have carefully selected several Californians who left documentation of their experiences in the Civil War and interviewed participants in the civil rights movement.

We realize that many people who participated in both of these events never had the opportunity to share their story. We want to give you a voice. Whether it is a story handed down from one generation to the next regarding the Civil War or if you had a unique experience related to civil rights we want to know.

Please take a few minutes to share your story with us. Your story will be posted here on this blog. Additionally, if you are interested in meeting with one of our oral historians please let us know. We won't publish or sell your contact information, but we would like to keep it on file for future use if you are indeed interested in further discussions.

We will be selecting a few submissions for display at the exhibit. If you would like to be notified so that you can see your quote or your story in the exhibit just let us know!

Thank you for your interest. We look forward to hearing from you!

You are being asked to contribure your recollections to the New Birth of Freedom site which is developing a permanent digital record of the events surrounds the Civil War to Civil Rights era. Your participation in this project will allow future historians, and people such as yourself, to gain a greater understanding of these events and the response to them.

You must be 13 years of age or older to submit material to us. Your submission of material constitutes your permission for, and consent to, its dissemination and use in connection with the Archive in all media in perpetuity. Your material will be published on the Archive website (with or without your name, depending on what you have indicated). Otherwise, your response will only be available to approved researchers using the digitial archive. The material you submit must have been created by you, wholly original, and shall not be copied from or based, in whole or in part, upon any other photographic, literarym or other material, except to the extent that such material is in the public domain. Further, submitted material must not violate any confidentiality, privacy, security or other laws.

By submitting material to the Archive you release, discharge, and agree to hold harmless the Archive and persons acting under its permission or authority from any claims or liability arising out of the Archives use of the matieral, including, without limitation, claims for violation of privacy, defamation, or misrepresentation.

The Archive has no obligation to use your material.

The Archive will not share your email or other contact information with commercial vendors.

If you are interested in becoming involved in a longer, more detailed interview regarding your experiences please let us know.