Introduction: Creating a University episode 1
This introductory podcast features an interview with the man behind the podcast project, Paul Thompson. A Research Professor in the Department of Sociology, Paul Thompson talks of Essex as “one of the places where oral history in Britain originated”. When he moved to Wivenhoe in the 1990s, Professor Thompson initiated an oral history project based in the town, which grew to involve many enthusiastic local residents. There are now over 60 interviews with Wivenhoe residents in the archive, many of whom worked at the University. The oral history archive is held at the Colchester Museum Resources Centre, as well as at our Albert Sloman Library. The interview was carried out by Chris Garrington, herself a former University employee, who edited together this series of podcasts based on the archive interviews.