John Jacob Oliver Oral History Interview

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

The oral history consists of 2016.129.19.1a and 2016.129.19.2a: two versions (unedited, and edited) of a single digital video recording. John Jacob Oliver was interviewed as part of the NMAAHC Donor Oral History Collection. Mr. Oliver worked for the AFRO-American newspaper, which donated a printing press to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. In this oral history interview John Jacob Oliver gives a narrative of what it was like to grow-up in the Murphy family, which has published the AFRO-American newspaper since 1892. He discusses his childhood in Baltimore, Maryland, where he personally integrated John E. Howard elementary school in the 6th grade. Oliver talks about his educational journey, which included a short stint at the University of Maryland, before deciding to transfer to the HBCU Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee and his later studies for a law degree from Columbia University.

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