Oral History Project is Focus of Archives Speaker Series

February 25, 2013

BUFFALO, NY – The Canisius University Archives & Special Collections Spring Archives Speaker Series will welcome Christine Anne George to campus on Tuesday, March 5 at 2:30 p.m. on the second floor of the Bouwhuis Library. George’s lecture, entitled “The Past That Has Yet to Pass: Archives and The Belfast Project,” is free and open to the public. Seating is limited.

George is a faculty services and reference librarian at the Charles B. Sears Law Library at SUNY Buffalo School of Law, where she also oversees the law library’s archives. Her research focuses on the legal and ethical issues surrounding The Belfast Project, an oral history project conducted at Boston College which captures the dark period of Northern Irish history known as “The Troubles.”

George will discuss the controversial project, which has been making news since May 2011 when U.S. attorneys subpoenaed Boston College for its oral history interview tapes. The subpoenas led to an ensuing legal battle that has reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Most recently, the project was again in the spotlight following the death of Delours Price, whose oral history interview sparked debate on possession of the interviews, ramifications for the Northern Irish Peace Process, the future of archival privilege and other standards of archival practice.

George holds a BA from Bard College, a JD from St. John’s University School of Law and an MSIS from the University of Texas at Austin School of Information.

The Canisius University Archives & Special Collections Speaker Series showcases scholars who have a special understanding of archival research based on their own experiences and who have completed an expression of scholarship reliant on archival research.

For more information, contact Kathleen Delaney, Canisius University archivist, at delaneyk@canisius.edu or at 716-888-8421.

Canisius is one of 28 Jesuit universities in the nation and the premier private university in Western New York.