Saint James AME Oral History Project Interviews
The St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church Oral History Project Interviews was a venture of the church membership to conduct and transcribe oral history interviews with current and former members of the Cleveland, Ohio, church. It also included residents of the Fairfax community. It was sponsored by the church’s Sadie J. Anderson Missionary Society and was funded in part by the Ohio Humanities Council. The goals of the project were to examine the role of the family and elderly in the African-American community, the place of the church in the community and family life, and the function of the community over time. Forty-one men and women participated in the interview process. A public conference was held in 1986 as part of the project. The collection consists of transcripts of interviews conducted with individuals who were or had been members of the congregation of St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church, Cleveland, Ohio, and/or residents of the Fairfax area; a final report on the project; publications; and newspaper clippings.