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Oral History Documentation Project
Thirty years of gathering people's stories
St. Mary's County has been historically one of the more "Southern" counties in Maryland in its racial attitudes. This reality is reflected in the fact that African Americans, who currently (2025) constitute 14% of the county population and comprised the majority during most of the nineteenth century, have been largely neglected in the official histories of the county. As the county that is the center of the 17th-century Maryland colony and site of its first capital, St. Mary's City, St. Mary's County has played a large role in the state's history and is the site of Historic St. Mary's City and other historical sites and museums. Throughout its history African Americans have played a prominent role in the life of the county, but one would not know it from visiting the county's museums or reading its histories.
UCAC has shared much of its collection of over 100 oral histories with the Slackwater Project - St. Mary's College of Maryland and the Southern Maryland Studies Center - College of Southern Maryland. The St. Mary's County Historical Society is also a repository for our collections and a strategic partner in making these stories available to the public. Experiencing these stories (reading, listening or watching) is encouraged. Please review our Terms and Conditions for other uses.
Our collection's beginnings in 1995 were at a time when digital recording devices were unaffordable; we purchased digital equipment in the early 2000s. Early on, interviews were recorded on portable and inexpensive cassette recorders. Some interviews were captured with digital video. Written logs have been developed for most of our collection and all interviews have been transcribed. All of our contractors and volunteers are encouraged to use our verbatim transcription guide.
The list of interviews with links to logs, transcripts, and recordings can be found here: Oral History Collection.