For Undergraduates
ROHA educates undergraduates in oral history theory and methodology, immersing them in the practice of conducting interviews. In the "Introduction to Oral History" class, student-scholars engage in experiential learning, gaining valuable research and communication skills. Students can use the course to satisfy requirements in the Public History Certificate Program, another way ROHA aligns with the History Department's efforts to foster public engagement in history.
Public History Internship Program
Each semester, the Public History Internship Program allows two to three History majors the opportunity to participate in the administration of the program as staff members for a semester. These undergraduates delve into the broader aspects of the program, including oral history techniques, archival management and event planning.
Scholarships
Several scholarship programs--The Class of 1948 Scholarship, The Class of 1956 Scholarship & the Crandon Clark, RC '44, Scholarship--have allowed numerous undergraduates to participate in the ROHA as staff members while earning valuable financial support. These undergraduates delve into the broader aspects of the program, including oral history techniques, archival management and event planning. The Clark Scholar also assists the ROHA staff in documenting the experiences of Korean War veterans.
For Graduate Students
The Chambers Oral History Graduate Student Fellowship is given annually to a Rutgers-New Brunswick History Department graduate student who utilizes oral history in their work in some manner and/or works closely with the staff of the Rutgers Oral History Archives (ROHA). Each year, the ROHA sponsors a public history lecture featuring the Chambers Scholar. As of 2023, enough money has been raised to offer awards to two graduate students per year.This Fellowship is funded by the generosity of The Cobb Foundation, The Ware Foundation and John Whiteclay Chambers II. It is designed to further the use of oral history and scholarship, support the Rutgers Oral History Archives, and honor Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History John Whiteclay Chambers II, who retired from the Rutgers University faculty in 2017.
Dr. John Whiteclay Chambers II, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History
Born in West Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1936, Chambers graduated from Temple University in Philadelphia with a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism in 1958. Moving to California, he pursued a career as a journalist, first as a newspaper reporter at the Pasadena Independent, Star-News and then as a news and documentary writer-producer at KRON-TV, the NBC affiliate in San Francisco. While at the latter, he earned a Master’s Degree in History at San Francisco State University. Subsequently after studying at Columbia University under Professor William E. Leuchtenburg, he received his Ph.D. in American History in 1973. He taught at Barnard College, Columbia University, for nearly a decade before joining the Rutgers-New Brunswick History Faculty in 1982. He was a respected member of the Rutgers faculty for 35 years.
An award-winning American historian and teacher Professor Chambers authored or edited more than a dozen books, including The Tyranny of Change: America in the Progressive Era, 1890-1920 (1980, with new, updated editions in 1992 and 2000), To Raise an Army: The Draft Comes to Modern America (1987), The Eagle and the Dove: The American Peace Movement and U.S. Foreign Policy, 1900-1922 (1976, updated in 1991), World War II, Film and History (1996), The Oxford Companion to American Military History (1999), and Bang-Bang Boys, Jedburghs, and the House of Horrors: A History of OSS Training and Operations in World War II (2008, 2016). Several of his books won scholarly prizes, and during his 45 years of teaching, he received outstanding awards for teaching at both Barnard College and Rutgers University.
In 1994, while leading the Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis, Professor Chambers helped guide Rutgers alumni in the creation of the Rutgers Oral History Archives. From 1994 to 2017, he chaired its Academic Advisory Board, taught oral history, and worked ceaselessly as academic champion of the ROHA. Upon his retirement as Distinguished Professor of History, he was awarded the Stephen E. Ambrose Oral History Award at the 15th Annual Meeting of the Rutgers Living History Society, which supports oral history and ROHA.
To apply:
Applicants for the John Whiteclay Chambers II Graduate Student Fellowship, which provides a research stipend, should submit a 500-word abstract of their research, highlighting how they plan to use existing oral history resources and/or conduct new oral histories in the course of their work. Awardees will be expected to give a lecture on their research and their use of oral history at an appropriate time and venue for the benefit of the community that supports and utilizes the Rutgers Oral History Archives.
For more information on applying, please contact:
Kathryn Traci Rizzi
Graduate Administrative Assistant
SAS - Department of History
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
Room 111, Van Dyck Hall
16 Seminary Pl
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
(848) 932-7941
To support the Chambers Fellowship, please contact:
Director of Development, Humanities
School of Arts & Sciences Office of Development
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
1 Spring St
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
(848) 932-6455