Kurdish Oral History

In 2011, Binghamton University Libraries received the donation of the Vera Beaudin Saeedpour Kurdish Library and Museum Collection. The acquisition opened a dialog with the local Kurdish community in Binghamton, N.Y., which led to the creation of the Kurdish Oral History Project.

These interviews provide deeper insight into the history of the Kurdish culture through personal accounts, narratives, testimonies, and memories of their early lives in their adoptive country and back in Kurdistan. This growing collection holds interviews in English and/or Kurdish with informants of all ages and a variety of backgrounds from various parts of Kurdistan. The interviewees share remarkable stories of their migration, their persecution in Kurdistan, the resilience of their Kurdish identity in assimilating into the host culture, and the ties they maintain with their homeland in diaspora.

Accessibility

Ensuring that our digital collections are accessible is a priority for the Libraries. We are committed to providing an equitable experience for all individuals by adhering to accessibility standards, responding to user feedback, and offering support and accommodations.

We aim to ensure that new digital collections are created with accessibility in mind and are working to improve the accessibility of older collections of archived web content.

We believe it’s essential for everyone to be able to request, retrieve, and access our digital collections, especially our audio and video digital collections. If you desire an accessible document, we will make all efforts to provide one in a timely manner. Please contact orb@binghamton.edu to make a request.