In the Oral History Project, Returned Peace Corps Volunteers interview other Volunteers, Staff and Counterparts about their Peace Corps experiences. Volunteer interviewers cover all costs incurred, including supplies, procuring appropriate equipment, software licenses and travel expenses (if needed) to conduct interviews.
Recordings are archived in the University of Kentucky Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History and the Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, a unit of the National Archives and Records Administration.
The Phyllis Noble Memorial Oral History Fund
Bob Klein and Phyllis Noble spent years building the Peace Corps Oral History Project into what it is today, traveling from Florida to Washington, Maine to Arizona to record the stories of returned Volunteers. Phyllis eventually took the reins from Bob, bringing organization to the effort — writing abstracts and project guides, building databases, and seeking funding — and personally conducted 64 interviews with RPCVs across the country between 2008 and 2017. Bob passed away in 2012; Phyllis followed on May 31, 2017.
The National Peace Corps Association has established the Phyllis Noble Memorial Oral History Fund to carry forward the work she and Bob started: digitizing the Project’s earliest interviews, recorded on audiocassette tape and held at the JFK Presidential Library, so they can finally be heard online.
Digitizing the JFK Library Tapes
More than 520 of the Project’s earliest interviews were recorded on audiocassette tape before OHAP moved to digital recording in 2015. Over the years, the fund has paid to digitize most of them at the JFK Library — about 75 tapes remain. The Library’s most recent quote to finish the job was about $2,000, or roughly $27 a tape, though that price may have risen since we last checked.
Please note: We are not a 501(c)(3) nonprofit so donations will not be tax deductible.
Gifts made through this button currently support the Phyllis Noble Memorial Oral History Fund and its work digitizing the remaining JFK Library tapes.
Why Aren’t All the Interviews Online?
Every Nunn Center interview is either Access: Online, meaning it has been indexed and transcribed, or Access: Request, meaning it hasn’t yet — transcripts are required under federal ADA accessibility rules. Of the 1,246 OHAP interviews archived at the Nunn Center, 409 are online today and 837 are still waiting on that work.
The Nunn Center has quoted $250,000–$300,000 to index and transcribe the remaining interviews — roughly $300–$360 each. That cost is well beyond what OHAP’s volunteer fundraising can cover, so the Nunn Center is pursuing that funding on its own. OHAP’s fundraising is focused on the JFK Library tapes above, where every dollar goes further.
We are an affiliate of the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA).
NPCA is the nonprofit alumni network at the center of a vibrant community of 220,000 people who share the Peace Corps experience. NPCA champions lifelong commitment to Peace Corps ideals by connecting, engaging and promoting its members and affiliate groups as they continue to make a difference in communities in the U.S. and abroad. NPCA is also dedicated to advocating for, contributing to, and supporting the betterment of the Peace Corps. Visit NPCA to learn more.