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The Oral Traditions Project was initiated by the Union County Bicentennial Commission in 1973 and passed to UCHS in 1977. From 1974 – 1984, trained volunteers recorded interviews with a cross-section of Union County residents selected specifically to document skills, experiences, and craft traditions typically transmitted orally across generations. As they were collected, volunteers compiled a card catalog of topics mentioned in each interview, and began transcribing the audio.
Only professional digitization can safely preserve the voices recorded on the fragile audio tapes. Some interviews survive in transcripts on paper, but more than half have not been transcribed--in danger of permanent loss.
Contribute to our fundraising campaign and follow our progress here!
Contributions will be used to pay for the tapes to be professionally preserved as digital audio files. All transcripts and audio will be made publicly available for search and download online by Bucknell University's Bertrand Library Special Collections and University Archives.
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Interviews are cataloged by topical keywords, including particular professions, family recipes, and social events. See the full list, or browse by theme below.
All Topics
Amish Â
Mennonites Â
One Room School Â
Life Â
Church Â
Baptism Â
Courting Â
Marriage Â
Clothing Â
Old Life Â
Harness Making Â
Holidays Â
Apple Butter Â
Apple Snitz Â
Cider Â
Auctioneers Â
Automobiles Â
Baking Â
Barn Raising Â
Basketry Â
Hickory Â
Broom Corn Â
Beekeeping Â
Bucknell Football Â
Blacksmithing Â
Buggy Making Â
Burials Â
Butchering Â
Butter Making Â
Cabinetry Â
Chair Seats Â
Candy Making Â
Depression Â
Diving Rods Â
Wells Â
Distilling Â
Drying Foods Â
Herbs Â
Roots Â
Dyes Â
Fire Department Â
Fishing Â
Gigging Â
Floods Â
Flour Mills Â
Games Â
Festivals Â
Genealogy Â
Hexing Â
Witches Â
Home Remedies Â
Hunting Â
Immigrant Experience Â
Vietnamese Assimilation Â
Indian Artifacts Â
Iron Industry Â
Judge Albert Johnson Â
Logging Â
Maple Sugaring Â
Midwives Â
Migrant Labor Â
Miscellaneous Â
Bruce Mitchell Â
Music Â
New Berlin Â
Out Buildings Â
Ice Houses Â
Pennsylvania German Riddles Â
Poems Â
Pennsylvania Kentucky Rifles Â
Peddlers Â
Tramps Â
Pharmacy Â
Pine Tar Â
Planting by the Signs Â
Zodiac Â
Pottery Â
Powwowing Â
Railroads Â
Recipes Â
Rugs Â
Quilting Â
Sawmills Â
North Ward School Â
Soap Making Â
Social Events Â
Oyster Suppers Â
Husking Parties Â
Thomas Sioui Â
Sixties Â
Suffragettes Â
Superstitions Â
Tall Tales Â
Susquehanna River Â
Tanning Â
Threshing Â
Harvesting Â
Tinsmithing Â
Traditional Meals Â
Vietnam War Veterans Â
Veterinary Practice Â
Watsontown Â
Weaving Â
Spinning Â
White Deer
Woolen Mills
People and Places
Amish
Church
Fire Department
Judge
Mennonites
Migrant Labor
New Berlin
North Ward School
One Room School
Susquehanna River
Tramps
Vietnam War Veterans
Watsontown
White Deer
Life at Home
Apple Butter Â
Apple Snitz Â
Automobiles Â
Baking Â
Butchering Â
Butter Making Â
Candy Making Â
Cider Â
Clothing Â
Drying Foods Â
Fishing Â
Gigging Â
Herbs, Roots, Dyes Â
Home Remedies Â
Hunting Â
Ice Houses Â
Life Â
Old Life Â
Out Buildings Â
Recipes Â
Soap Making Â
Traditional Meals Church
Crafts and Trades
Auctioneers
Hickory
Broom Corn  Â
Beekeeping  Â
Blacksmithing  Â
Buggy Making  Â
Cabinetry  Â
Chair Seats  Â
Distilling  Â
Flour Mills  Â
Harness Making  Â
Iron Industry  Â
Logging  Â
Maple Sugaring  Â
Midwives  Â
Peddlers  Â
Pennsylvania Kentucky Rifles  Â
Pharmacy  Â
Pine Tar  Â
Pottery  Â
Quilting  Â
Rugs  Â
Sawmills  Â
Tanning  Â
Threshing  Â
Harvesting  Â
Tinsmithing  Â
Veterinary Practice  Â
Weaving  Â
Spinning  Â
Woolen Mills
Events and Customs
Baptism
Barn Raising
Bucknell Football
Burials
Courting
Depression
Diving Rods, Wells
Festivals
Floods
Games
Genealogy
Hexing, Witches
Holidays
Husking
Parties Â
Immigrant Experience Â
Indian Artifacts Â
Marriage Â
Miscellaneous Â
Music Â
Oyster Suppers Â
Pennsylvania German Riddles Â
Planting by the Signs Â
Participants came from not only Union County, but surrounding areas in Central PA, and included teachers, fire chiefs, farmers, and others sharing their experiences with traditional crafts and trades, as well as social events and town stories.
Names of All Participants
Ray Acor
John W. Arbogast Sr.
Dave Arndt
Dorothy Aumiller
Grace Auten
Nevin Barnitz
George Barto Jr.
August Bauer
Robert E. Beckman
Esther Bell
Jeff Benton
Roger Bergenstock
Hal Biggs
Kenneth Bilger
Harry Bingaman
Irene Bingaman
Roy Birchard
Judith Blee
Iva Blouch
Elmer Blyler
Elmer Boney
Bruce Boop
Cora Boop
Roy Boyer
Arthur Brandon
Anna Breehun
Howard Brosious
Marlin Brosious
Willie Brougher
Helen Carter
Forest Catherman Jr.
Gladys Cook
Charlotte Crayton
Harry D’Addario
Harold Danowsky
Martha Davis
Lena Dawson
Bruce Dean
Paul Donecker
Robert Donehower
Martha Dorman
Nguyen Dung
Trennie Eisley
Jacob Engle
Maude Engle
Lester Englehart
George Epler
Roy Erb
Jennie Erdley
Kathryn Everett
John Farley
Robert Feir
Stanley Fiedler
Roy Finkel
Elizabeth Fisher
Pauline Fornwald
Howard Fowler
Charles Frederick
David Geise
Ernest Geiswite
Weber Gerhart Jr.
Warren Gramley
Emmalene Grice
Clair Groover
Donna Ruth Hackenburg
Nevin Hackenburg
Elizabeth Halinan
Louis Harris
Lester Hart
Regina Hartle
Alfred Hause
Harold Hause
Mary Hause
David Heberlig
Norman Heiss
Ada Herman
Wayne Hess
Donald Heiter
Andrea Hinds
Bessy Hoffman
Tom Hoffman
Olive Hoover
Earl Hummel
Russel Hummell
Marion Jacobsen
Stephen Jacobson
Rebecca James
Earl Jefferies
Hilda Jeffries
David Johnson
Dorothy Johnson
E. R. Johnson
Donald Johnson
Josephine Johnson
Paul Johnson
Elmer Kahley
Eva Kaufman
William Kerstetter
Kenneth Keeter
Harry Keil
Dale Kelly
David King
James King
John Kirkland
Grace Kleppinger
Ethel Kline
Bill Lane
Robert Latour
Mary Leiby
Art Leitzel
Charles Lesher
Komber Linn
Merrill Linn
Mary Maher
Martin Rufus
Truman Martin
George Mathews
Benson McDowell
Donald Miller
Tott Mitch
Lloyd Mook
Jack Moyer
Dale Moyer
J. A. Muffly
Leon Musser
Edwin Nagle
Charles Nguyen
Giao Nguyen
Katherine Nguyen
Jean Nguyen
Helen Noll
Rose O’Dell
William Padlock
Edward Pangburn
Anna Patton
Karl Patten
John Persing
Catherine Person
David Reed
Sara Reigle
Kenneth Reish
Arthur Renninger
Ann Roll
Robert Rooke
Clarence Ross
Jane Royer
Lester Ruhl
Nancy Ruhl
Ralph Ruhl
Ernest Ruhl
Randall Runyan
Edna Russell
Willard Russell
Herman Sampsell
Fern Sauers
Joan Schneider
Walter School
James School
John Schrock
Harry Shaffer
Bessie Shiffer
Florence Shively
John Shively
Ray Shively
Gary Slear
Verna Sholter
John Shriner
Robert Shriner
J. J. Shrock
C. Willard Smith
Sarah Sinnot
Albert Slear
Wendell Smith
Blanche Snyder
Ellen Spangler
Miller Spangler
Woodrow Spangler
Charles Spigelmeyer
Adrian Spielman
Sara Spotts
Robert Stackhouse
Elmer Stahl
Ruth Steffy
William Strohecker
Rose Stoltzfus
Harry Stuck
Charlotte Styers
Roy Tasker
Robert Taylor
Tama Thompson
Myrtle Thompson
Mabel Troop
Donald Troutman
Rosella Vanatta
Betty Waddell
Donnie Walters
Luther Weidensaul
William Weist
John Wheatcroft
Edith Wilson
Myra Wilson
Roger Wise
William Wolfe
Matilda Wright
Mary Yoder
Elsie Young
Martin Zettlemoyer
John Zeller
Arleen Zeiber
George Zeiber
Dan Zimmerman
Nora Zimmerman