Deborah McFarlane, DrPH, MPA, MPH, Department of Political Science, University of New Mexico, 4213 Mackland Avenue, N.E, Albuquerque, NM 87131, 505-277-7130, dmcf@unm.edu

This paper provides a mid-point report on the Population Pioneers Project. The purpose of this project is to preserve information related to the history of international population pioneers in order to improve the effectiveness of future programs. Preserving information about the people who have influenced the development of these programs is not an idle, academic interest. To a large extent, family planning programs represent enormous achievements in public health and economic development. The experiences of these people can illuminate the operations and dynamics of current programs and policies as well as provide lessons for the future. The Population Pioneer Project has three goals: (1) to conduct oral histories with approximately 40 key individuals involved in family planning and reproductive health during the period 1965-2000, (2) to collect documents germane to population and family planning programs and policies, and (3) to preserve and make accessible oral histories and documents germane to population programs and public policies. The first section of this paper describes the purpose and process of an oral history. In the second section, the sampling frame for selecting individuals for interviews is presented. The third section explains the how paper documents are archived. The fourth section discusses the process of accessing these oral histories and documents and provides information about oral histories that are not yet accessible. Finally, future plans for completing this project are covered along with suggestions for using these publicly available oral histories.

Learning Objectives:

• At the end of the session, participants should be able to
• 1. Describe the purposes and processes involved in conducting an oral history.
• 2. Discuss how paper documents are archived in a formal collection
• 3. Access oral histories and documents gathered through the Population Pioneers Project

Keywords: Population, Family Planning

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.