Week 31: Writings and Transcripts

This week I dedicated most of my time processing O’Neal’s Writings series.  The files encompass his personal and professional writings and collected writings from other playwrights, poets, and theater directors. This is a large series, and so far, the files include original manuscripts drafts of O’Neal’s plays, essays, and poetry.  Most of the plays written by O’Neal were created for the Free Southern Theater and for performances at various schools in the New Orleans community. 

An interesting find in this group of files are transcripts of interviews pertaining to O’Neal’s book proposal about SNCC. O’Neal interviewed members in the Southern Student Movement in the early sixties to identify their ideological perspectives and to associate what experiences changed their perspectives. Some of the transcripts include interviews with Bob Moses, Charles Sherrod, Ed Brown, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Stanley Wise.