Voices of Northampton, 1970s – Today

Oral History Collection

James McDonald interviews Gail Yacuzzo who, with her husband Daniel Yacuzzo, opened Eastside Grill on Strong Ave. in 1985. Photo: Bryan Horch, 2026.

Since the early 1970s, Historic Northampton has been conducting oral history interviews. We hold 90 taped interviews from the 1970s to early 1990s in which older Northampton residents discuss their childhoods, education in local schools, social conditions, immigrant families, and work in local industries; the time span covers about 1890 through the 1980s. Originally recorded on audio cassette tapes, these early interviews are now digitized and most include full transcripts.

Since 2017, we have recorded oral histories on video and focused on city residents who were part of the “Northampton Renaissance” in the late 1970s and 1980s. Interviewees include artists, musicians, educators, business people, restaurateurs and members of the local media. In 2018, Gordon Thorne, Brinkley Thorne, Annie Woodhull, and Maisie Cox were interviewed about the opening of Thorne’s Marketplace in 1978, among other topics.

In 2022 and 2023, Erika Slocumb interviewed participants in the Lesbians of Color in Northampton oral history project.

Browse a complete list of oral histories in our collection.

Search oral histories in the online catalog

Bob Cilman, Director of Young@Heart Chorus, producer, musician, talks with James McDonald about what made the arts community in Northampton thrive beginning in the 1970s and how affordability has changed the art scene.

David Sokol, former music editor and production manager of the Valley Advocate newspaper, talks with James McDonald about his early years at the Advocate (beginning in 1974) and the paper’s goal to create a vibrant and more political alternative to daily newspapers.