Collection: The Center for Worker Education Oral History Project
Description: This collection contains interviews with the founding faculty, staff and students of the City College of New York’s Center for Worker Education (CCNY CWE). Established in 1981 by organized labor and CCNY faculty, CWE created a college degree program for working adults with limited or interrupted access to higher education. Unique for its time, the school’s interdisciplinary curriculum and flexible class schedule became a turning point in the history of labor and public education in New York City.
The interviews within the collection narrate this history from the perspectives of those who created it. Housed at the CCNY Archives & Special Collections, the recordings are available on audio cassette for in-person use, but their medium presents several challenges to access and preservation. By digitizing and making the tapes available online, we aim to connect students, researchers, and the public to an important history that continues to shape the lives of so many working New Yorkers.