Oral History Collection

Active since 1976, the Iron Range Research Center oral history program includes over 1400 oral history interviews. Narrators are selected for their life stories or are interviewed on a particular topic as part of larger project. Major projects to date include WWII Veterans Oral History Project: The Iron Range Experience: Vietnam Veterans Project; Women on the Iron Range; Women in Politics Project; Life in a Mining Location Project; Unemployed Miners; Musicians on the Iron Range; Civilian Conservation Corps; Mountain Iron Community Project; Children of the Finnish Homesteads Project; Chisholm Community Project; Eveleth Community Project; Ely Community Project; Tomahawk Timber Oral History Project; The Vermilion Lake People, Bois Forte Oral History Project; Toumi School Oral History Project; Swedish Immigrant Life in Duluth and Northern Minnesota Project; Superior National Forest; Soudan Mine; Slovenian Button Box and Accordian Music Project; LTV's Denora Mine Project.

Most of the earlier interviews have been counter indexed. Transcripts of some of the tapes, especially the oral history projects, are available at the Research Center. 

Tapes and transcripts may be used in the Research Center. Transcripts may be copied by researchers or for interlibrary loan. Tapes may only be copied by subjects or family members and are not loaned out.

The history, culture and traditions of the Iron Range are preserved in an extensive oral history collection.
Early immigrants, pioneers, miners, teachers, musicians, loggers, and many others have had their stories recorded for the historical records. Histories are organized by narrators name and by topic.

Subject categories include:

Agriculture Labor
Boardinghouse Location Life
Business Logging
Civilian Conservation Corps Mining
Citizenship Music
Community Life Open Pit Mining
Cooking Politics
The Depression Prohibition
Education Railroads
Ethnicity Recreation
Family Life Transportation
Family Traditions Underground Mining