Youth Document Durham and Durham Works Project records, 1995-2008 and undated

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Collection is restricted. Interview folders with no accompanying release forms are closed to research for 50 years from the date of creation. These folder numbers are specified in the database....
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Summary

Creator:
Duke University. Center for Documentary Studies
Abstract:
Youth Document Durham and Durham Works were programs sponsored by Duke University and the Center for Documentary Studies that brought together young people ages 12–16 from diverse Durham communities to document their lives, local history, and contemporary social issues through photography, oral history, and narrative writing. The Youth Document Durham and Durham Works project records span the years 1995-2008 and document the process of training young people in Durham, North Carolina schools to use photography and other arts, oral histories, and writing to record the history and members of their communities and the local issues affecting the students' lives. Many of the students are African American or Hispanic and their topics often highlight social conditions and race relations in African American and Hispanic communities in Durham neighborhoods and in a few other locations, including South Carolina. Topics explored by participants, both interviewers and interviewees, include crime, food cultures, jobs and education, music, racism, technology, teen violence, work cultures, and tobacco cultivation and its social context. The bulk of the collection is made up of hundreds of oral interviews conducted by junior high and high school students with community members, documented through audiocassette recordings, photographs, writings, and some transcripts, but there are also many program publications, project curricula, and administrative records for the program from its beginnings through 2008. There is also a database created by Center for Documentary Studies staff that records the complete information for each interview, including descriptive notes on certain interviews. This data also contains restricted information. For access to this database, please consult with a reference archivist. Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.
Extent:
45.5 Linear Feet
Approximately 10,085 Items
Language:
Material in English
Collection ID:
RL.01428

Background

Scope and content:

The Youth Document Durham and Durham Works program records span the years 1995-2008 and document the process of training young people in Durham, North Carolina schools to use photography and other arts, oral histories, and writing to record the histories and members of their communities and the local issues affecting the students' lives. Although the vast majority of the projects focus on Durham, there is also one project based in South Carolina. Topics explored by participants, both interviewers and interviewees, include crime, food cultures, jobs and education, music, racism, technology, teen violence, work cultures, and tobacco cultivation and its social context. The collection is divided into four series: Interviews, Photographic Material, Project Files, and Additions.

The bulk of the collection is made up of hundreds of interviews conducted by junior high and high school students with community members, but there are also many program publications, project curricula, and administrative records for those years. The contents of each series is described in full below. There is also a Community Stories database that houses the complete information for each interview, including descriptive notes on certain interviews, and restricted information. For access to this database, please consult with a reference archivist.

The Interviews Series forms the bulk of the collection, and houses the materials generated by the student projects. Each session was organized around a topic which usually would be repeated in subsequent years, such as "Durham Works" or "Old Five Points." Folders usually house one set of interviews conducted by one or more students, and contents typically consist of one or more cassette tapes of the oral interviews, consent forms and other documentation about the interviewees, and writings by the students that came out of their experiences as interviewers. Some interviews have been transcribed. Original audiovisual materials are closed to use; viewing or listening copies need to be made before contents can be accessed. Folders are arranged in number order as assigned by Center for Documentary Studies Staff; they are not in chronological order. An alternate listing at the end of this collection inventory groups boxes by project title rather than folder number order.

In addition to oral histories and writings, the students also produced many images of their subjects and their communities. Photographic prints and negatives of their work are housed in the Photographic Materials Series. Students also produced poems and drawings, and these are chiefly found in the Project Files Series.

Supporting program materials - curriculum guides, notes on staff meetings, staff guidelines, assessments of outcomes - are found in the Project Files Series. Also housed here are additional photographic images, mostly of the project students and staff, CDs with final projects, and the many publications that came out of the Center for Documentary Studies program. These booklets contain mostly interview transcriptions but also include photographs, drawings, annotations, and poetry. Also included is a retrospective collection of Youth Document Durham participant photos and essays, edited by Hong-An Truong and published in 2005.

Later accessions to the collections are found in the Additions Series. These items consist of audiovisual materials, photographs, and some printed materials. In addition to the Youth Document Durham project, related projects included in the Additions series are the Youth Treatment Court, which seems to have been a division of Youth Document Durham, and the Connect Program, which included projects from Old Five Points as well as special group projects for youth.

Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.

Biographical / historical:

Part of the larger Community Programs department in the Center for Documentary Studies, "Youth Document Durham" was a summer program that brought together young people, ages 12–16, from diverse Durham and surrounding communities to document their lives, local history, and contemporary social issues through photography, oral history, and narrative writing. Many of the students are African American or Hispanic and their topics often highlight social conditions and race relations in African American and Hispanic communities in their neighborhoods. Topics explored by participants, both interviewers and interviewees, include crime, food cultures, jobs and education, music, racism, technology, teen violence, work cultures, and tobacco cultivation and its social context.

For four intensive weeks, students learned the skills to create photographic bodies of work with a manual camera, the techniques required to process film and develop prints, interviewing skills, computer-based audio editing, and how to write narration reflecting their experiences. They also made decisions about how they would explore their group's topic; they chose who they might want to interview, where and what they would photograph, and what project or event might reflect their work so that they could then share their ideas, stories, and photographs with the larger community. The program produced public forums, web sites, exhibits, and publications. The Youth Document Durham program received funding support from the City of Durham and the Triangle Community Foundation, through the Quintiles Give Back Fund and the Fund for Women and Girls of Durham. Originally called "Community Stories," it is sometimes referred to it in this way in the collection.

Also part of Community Programs, Durham Works was an after-school career exploration program that encouraged young people to focus on questions about education, jobs, and the world of work. Using cameras and tape recorders, middle-school students met with community members who were working in jobs that the young people found intriguing and appealing. Their documentary work was presented back to the community in various ways, including exhibits, videos, art installations, and posters.

Acquisition information:
The Youth Document Durham and Durham Works Project Records were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 2009 and 2011.
Processing information:

Processed by Paula Jeannet Mangiafico, Katy Terrell, Aaron Thornburg, April 2009.

Encoded by Robert Carlson, Paula Jeannet Mangiafico, Katy Terrell, Aaron Thornburg, June 2009.

Updated by Meghan Lyon, October 2011, and Paula Jeannet Mangiafico, October 2013.

Accessions 2009-0005, 2009-0086, and 2011-0178 are described in this finding aid.

Arrangement:

Organized into four series: Interviews, Photographic Material, Project Files, and Additions. The original arrangement of the interview files is in folder number order as assigned by the Center staff rather than by project. For easier access, an Alternate Listing by Project Title also appears at the end of this inventory.

Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Collection is restricted. Interview folders with no accompanying release forms are closed to research for 50 years from the date of creation. These folder numbers are specified in the database. Also, original audiovisual materials are closed to use.

Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.

Original audiovisual materials are closed to patron use. Some use copies are available in the collection. Otherwise, Technical Services staff need to produce use copies before contents can be accessed.

All or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. The library may require up to 48 hours to retrieve these materials for research use.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

[Original audiovisual materials are closed to use. Use of these materials may require production of listening or viewing copies. Please contact Research Services before coming to use this collection.]

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Youth Document Durham and Durham Works Project Records, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University