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Squatters' Collective Oral Histories Project

Call Number

OH.068

Date

2008-2012, inclusive

Creator

Sorgen, Jeremy
Starecheski, Amy (Role: Donor)

Extent

1 Linear Feet in 2 manuscript boxes containing 19 access and master CDs and 1 hard drive containing 167 files of audio recordings, images, and transcripts in 25.86 GB.
19 sound discs (cd)
25.86 Gigabytes

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Abstract

The Tamiment Library first initiated the Squatters' Collective Oral Histories Project in 2008 as a larger effort to document the squatters' movement in New York City. The project was later continued by Amy Starecheski who conducted an additional thirty-seven interviews for her scholarly research in cultural anthropology. This collection is comprised of forty-four interviews documenting the experiences of individuals living as squatters in New York City between the 1980s and the 2000s. Interviews included in this project touch on a number of topics including general discussions about the experience and politics of squatting; legalization of squats and negotiations with the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB); gentrification; and the experiences of women and minorities in squats. The majority of squatters interviewed in this collection lived in Manhattan's Lower East Side, but the collection also contains discussion of squats in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the South Bronx.

Historical/Biographical Note

The Squatters' Collective Oral History Project was initiated by Tamiment Library in 2008 as a larger effort to document the squatters' movement in New York City. In 2008 Jeremy Sorgen, and undergraduate student at New York University, conducted seven oral history interviews on behalf of the Tamiment Library. The project was later continued by Amy Starecheski who conducted an additional thirty-seven interviews as research for her Ph.D. dissertation in Cultural Anthropology at the City University of New York, which focused on squatting and the transformation of squats into limited equity, low-income co-ops.

The history of squatting in New York City can be traced back to the nineteenth century, but the movement documented by this oral history project began as an outgrowth of an economic and housing crisis in the 1970s. Reacting to a lack of affordable housing and displacement caused by urban renewal projects, a number of city residents sought alternative housing by occupying vacant buildings in the city. Squatters in New York City were a diverse group that included bohemian artists, activists, undocumented immigrants, and displaced locals, among others. Throughout the 1990s, building owners and city officials worked to evict many of the squats, and while many were torn down or reclaimed by the city, squatters staged a number of successful efforts which allowed them to remain in their buildings. By the end of the 1990s, a number of squatters who still retained control of their buildings approached the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB), a non-profit organization dedicated to converting city-owned buildings into low-income cooperatives, in an attempt to establish legal ownership of their homes. Over the years that followed, squatters in the Lower East Side began negotiations with UHAB and eventually reached a deal in 2002, which allowed UHAB to acquire eleven buildings that would eventually be sold back to residents once they were renovated and brought up to code. Many of the squats struggled to complete renovations to their buildings, however, and as of 2013 only five of the eleven buildings completed the legalization process.

Arrangement

This collection has been arranged into two series, Series I: Interviews by Jeremy Sorgen and Series II: Interviews by Amy Starecheski, based on the phase in which the interviews were conducted for this oral history project. Series in the collection have been named after the primary interviewer who conducted interviews for each phase of the project.Files within series have not been arranged.

Scope and Content Note

This collection is comprised of interviews of 37 individuals documenting their experiences living as squatters in New York City between the 1970s and the 2000s. The majority of squatters interviewed in this collection lived in Manhattan's Lower East Side, but the collection also contains discussion of squats in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the South Bronx. Individuals interviewed for this project come from diverse backgrounds and speak to the multitude of experiences among squatters.

Interviews in this collection address the general experience of life as a squatter in New York, and a large portion focus specifically on the process of transforming squats into legal, limited equity, low-income co-ops. In their discussions about legalization, interviewees recount their negotiations with the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB), gentrification, reasons for seeking legalization, and their general opinions about the process. A number of interviews in this collection also touch on squatters' experiences, discussing the politics, organization, and social structure of squats. Several interviews also highlight the experiences of women and minorities living in squats, addressing issues including discrimination, underrepresentation, and child rearing. Additionally, the collection contains a number of interviews with housing rights activists who assisted squatters in their attempts to gain ownership of their buildings.

Oral history interviews in Series I: Interviews by Jeremy Sorgen were recorded as audio files, which were transferred to Access and Master CDs. Files from Series II: Interviews by Amy Starecheski were recorded as digital audio files and also consist of transcripts and JPEG images of the interviewees.

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open without restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by Amy Starecheski were relinquished and transferred to the public domain in 2016 by Amy Starecheski. These materials are governed by a Creative Commons CC0 license, which permits publication and reproduction of materials accompanied by full attribution. See, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/.

Copyright (and related rights to publicity and privacy) to interviews conducted by Jeremy Sorgen on behalf of Tamiment Library are held by NYU. Permission to publish or reproduce any of these materials must be secured from the Tamiment Library.

Any additional use restrictions will be noted at the item level.

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date; Squatters' Collective Oral Histories Project; OH 068; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Tamiment Library first began conducting interviews for this collection in 2008. Interviews completed by Jeremy Sorgen on behalf of the library in 2008 were established as the Squatters' Collective Oral Histories Project, OH 068. In 2014, Amy Starecheski donated additional interviews interviews, which were incorporated into this collection. The accession number associated with this gift is 2014.140.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Access CDs for audiovisual materials in the collection are available by appointment for reading room viewing and listening only.

Advance notice is required for the use of computer records. Original physical digital media is restricted. An access terminal for born-digital materials in the collection is available by appointment for reading room viewing and listening only. Researchers may view an item's original container and/or carrier, but the physical carriers themselves are not available for use because of preservation concerns.

Related Archival Materials

Squatters' Rights Collection: Fly Papers (TAM 363)

Squatters' Rights Collection: Jane Churchman Papers (TAM 313)

Squatters' Rights Collection: Jerry "The Peddler" Wade (TAM 366)

Squatters' Rights Collection: Kurt Reynertson Papers (TAM 335)

Squatters' Rights Collection: On Davis Papers (TAM 365)

Squatters' Rights Collection: Peter Spagnuolo Papers (TAM 336)

Squatters' Rights Collection: Roland Politi Papers (TAM 364)

Collection processed by

Heather Mulliner in consultation with David Olson. Interview descriptions provided by Amy Starecheski.

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-20 16:27:15 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: English

Processing Information

This collection was created in two parts. Interviews from this first part of this project were created by a Jeremy Sorgen, an undergraduate student at New York University, on behalf of the Tamiment Library. Interviews from the second part of this project were created by Amy Starecheski for her scholarly research and later donated to Tamiment Library. Upon receipt of this second set of interviews, a finding aid was created to describe the entire collection, at which point interviews were divided into two series based on creator. Biographical and contextual information accompanying interviews were provided by Amy Starecheski, and later modified to conform to current archival descriptive standards (DACS).

The audio recordings of interviews conducted by Jeremy Sorgen were digitized and access CDs were created. The hard drive containing the interviews and transcripts created by Amy Starecheski was imaged and arranged in Research Workspace. New York University Libraries follow professional standards and best practices when imaging, ingesting, and processing born-digital material in order to maintain the integrity and authenticity of the content.

Revisions to this Guide

October 2019: Edited by Anna McCormick for compliance with DACS and ACM Required Elements for Archival Description

Repository

Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012