Series 1 contains material related to Professor Steen's oral history projects and their related material. Two of his major oral history projects were about Albany Mayor Erastus Corning 2nd and New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller. Other projects pertain to topics such as Albany's black community, the Holocaust, and radio. Please note that formal oral history interviews with prisoners of war were never conducted because grant funding could not be obtained. Folders typically contain correspondence with each interviewee as well as interview transcripts and background information. There are cassette tapes to accompany the interview transcripts. Cassette tapes with general dates or date ranges indicate multiple interview dates.
This series contains Persico's public papers, including press releases, transcripts of press conferences, television and radio interviews, and drafts of speeches written for New York State Commissioner of Health Hollis Ingraham and Nelson A. Rockefeller (1964-1977). Press releases and transcripts associated with the speeches are also present in the Persico files. Rockefeller's Messages to the Legislature and "Quotes on Issues" during the late 1960s and early 1970s have been filed in this series with the speeches written by Persico. Several boxes contained in this series are subject files relating personally to the author, his work, and to Nelson Rockefeller. A partial index to speeches is available in the Department of Special Collections and Archives. Consult a staff member for details. Also included in this series are subject files and news clippings. While most of these documents date from 1964-1977, some related materials date from 1947-1981.
