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Title
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Pamela Cooley, November 20 and December 2, 2024
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interviewee
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Pamela Cooley
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interviewer
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Peyton Legg
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Date
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2024-11-20
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2024-12-2
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Subject
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Archives
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Board member
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Bruce Buckley
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Cooking
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Culinary history
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Folklore
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Food
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Home Economics
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Library
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New York Folklore Society
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NYSHA
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Programs
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Resource management
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Sidney, New York
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SUNY Oneonta
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Description
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From 2000 to 2006, Pamela Cooley was a board member of the New York Folklore Society. She was born in 1945 in Sidney, New York. While growing up she shared close connections with her parents and grandparents, and she discusses their prominence in her life today. Cooley shared various stories, characteristics, and memories of her family members. Throughout her youth, she attended the Pleasant Street School in Sidney, New York. She felt different from other students, as she was interested in taking shop classes and learning cooking instead of traditional education courses.
In college, Pamela fell in love with various shop-style classes at SUNY Oneonta, remembering them fondly. She graduated with a major in English Literature, and after her undergraduate experience she began working at the Graphic School Design Library at Harvard. Cooley worked various jobs and participated in programs that engrossed her in folklore. Throughout the years, she managed a multitude of foodway programs that fostered her love for cooking and folklore. Years later she went back to graduate school at SUNY Albany earning a degree in archives and record management.
I interviewed Pamela Cooley at her home in East Worcester, New York. Pamela currently does freelance archivist work and fills her time with various hobbies. Years prior Cooley was involved in the New York Folklore Society. She enjoys discussing folklore and its prominence in our daily life and the importance it had in her past archival work. She processed the papers of Bruce Buckley, first director of the Cooperstown Graduate Program, as well as those of Congressman Hamilton Fish [III]. She discusses cooking, her archivist career, and the experiences and connections she gained when immersing herself in the New York Folklore Society.
Pamela spoke with a very clear tone. I have eliminated repeated words and corrected confusing phrasing while ensuring all necessary details are included. Based on the conversation, there were parts of laughter and small conversation amongst myself and Pamela that I kept in as I felt it contributed to the positive nature of this oral history. Due to an equipment malfunction, the first half hour of the interview was not recorded properly on November 10th. I returned on December 2nd to re-record that portion of the interview.
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Time Summary
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Track 1, 00:18 - Grandparents
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Track 1, 09:16 - Mother
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Track 1, 12:05 - Father
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Track 1, 15:01 - Education
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Track 1, 17:52 - Work after undergraduate school
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Track 1, 22:52 - Impactful classes
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Track 2, 00:56 - Culinary history
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Track 2, 05:57 - Foodway perceptions
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Track 2, 07:54 - Board Member
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Track 2, 13:35 - New York Folklore Society
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Track 2, 16:15 - Bruce Buckley
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Track 2, 23:01 - Archival work
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Track 3, 0:00 - NYSHA
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Creator
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Peyton Legg
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Publisher
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Cooperstown Graduate Program, State University of New York at Oneonta
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Rights
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Cooperstown Graduate Association, Cooperstown, NY
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Language
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en-US
