Oral Histories of Extraordinary East Villagers: New Additions to the Village Preservation Archive

In 2014, Village Preservation began an ongoing series of interviews with cultural pioneers and community leaders in the South and East Village. The project aims to record, preserve, and use the stories of these exceptional individuals to increase our understanding of the cultural and social history of these historically diverse and dynamic neighborhoods and preserve these voices and stories for future generations to learn from.

Our most recent oral history interviews with notable East Villagers, which may be sampled that evening, include Anthology Film Archives founder Jonas Mekas, Veselka owner Tom Birchard, community activist Marilyn Appleberg, and Phil Hartman of Two Boots Pizza.

Karen Loew, Village Preservation Director of East Village and Special Projects, and Liza Zapol, documentarian and oral historian, will discuss the importance of oral histories, and the process of interviewing, recording and transcribing them. Profiles from our growing collection will be shared in this mixed-media program.