Collections of oral accounts conducted since 1994

The History Committee gathers, in addition to the written archives, the testimony of people who have acted in the areas for which the Ministry of Culture is responsible. It was inspired by the method of collection of oral archives which was theorized by Florence Descamps (normalienne, agrégée d'histoire, maître de conférence à l'École pratique des hautes études, former secretary general of the Finance History Committee and vice-president of the History Committee of the Ministry of Culture). This “living material” is one of the sources used by the historian of cultural policies in the study of the history of the present time.

The funds presented below complement the ten other corpus presented in this section and are enriched as and when the Committee conducts its programmes. They are accessible to researchers - only by appointment – after express permission from authors and rights holders.

  • Lthe creation of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Interviews conducted between 1989 and 1990 by Geneviève Poujol (in charge of mission to the History Committee of the Ministry of Culture) with 23 senior officials and main collaborators of André Malraux. These interviews were conducted as part of the preparation of the study days André Malraux Minister, Held on 30 November and 1 December 1989 on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the Ministry of Culture. The proceedings of these days have been published under the title André Malraux Minister. Cultural Affairs in the Time of André Malraux (1959-1969), (La Documentation française, 1996, 522 p.) [total corpus duration: 32:36 min.]
  • History of the Regional Directorates of Cultural Affairs, collective hearings conducted between 1995 and 1998 by a working group of the History Committee of the Ministry of Culture, chaired by Guy Brajot (former Director of the General Administration of the Ministry of Culture), with 12 witnesses (former departmental officials, permanent correspondents and regional directors). These interviews were carried out as part of the publication of the book Implementation of the Ministry of Culture in the regions, by Jean-Luc Bodiguel, (coll. Travaux et documents n° 12, La Documentation française, 2001, 345 p.) [total corpus duration: 24:15 min.]
  • TheState and architecture, 1959-1981. Interviews carried out in 1997 by Eric Lengereau (urban architect and architectural historian) as part of his PhD, with 32 senior officials who held the main responsibilities in this field from 1958 to 1981. All the interviews allowed the writing of the thesis State and architecture, 1958-1981, a public policy?, (ed. Picard, 2001, 559 pp.) (National Architectural History Award 2002) [total corpus time: 42:48 min.]
  • LMuseums (1981-1986). Series of interviews conducted between 1999 and 2004 by Claire Pouly (in charge of mission at the History Committee of the Ministry of Culture), with Irene Bizot (former Director General of the Réunion des musées nationaux), Michel Laclotte (former Director of the Louvre Museum), Hubert Landais (former Director of the Museums of France), Nicole Verlet (regarding the functions performed by her husband Pierre Verlet, former Head of the Department of Art Objects of the National Museums) and Jean-Wilfried Pré (former chargé de mission to the director of museums of France) [total duration of the corpus: 43h10min. ]
  • LMichel Guy, Secretary of State for Culture (1974-1976). About twenty interviews with collaborators of the minister and artists of the time, conducted between 2002 and 2006 by Michèle Dardy-Cretin (in charge of mission at the History Committee of the Ministry of Culture), are the basis of the book Michel Guy, Secretary of State for Culture, 1974-1976. An unknown innovator, (coll. Travaux et documents n° 22, La Documentation française, 2007, 319 p.) [corpus time: 31h33min.]
  • Cultural action in new cities. Onze interviews of witness actors recorded in 2003 and 2004 by Benjamin Ménard (Deputy Secretary General of the History Committee of the Ministry of Culture) allowed the organization of a study day in June 2004. The proceedings of this meeting were published in 2005 under the title theCultural action in new towns, (coll. Travaux et documents n° 20, La Documentation française, 2004, 302 p.) [total corpus duration: 14:13 p.m.]
  • Arts and cultural education in the French school system from 1968 to 2000. Interviews conducted between 2003 and 2005 by Camille Grabowski (in charge of mission at the History Committee of the Ministry of Culture), with five senior officials, as part of the preparation of his doctoral thesis in history (IEP de Paris, 2013), under the direction of Jean-Pierre JeanFrançois Sirinelli [total corpus time: 16:55 min. ]
  • The policy of knowledge, protection and exploitation of the XIX heritagee and XXe centuries in the ministry of Culture. Interviews conducted in 2007 by Delphine Aboulker (project manager at the History Committee of the Ministry of Culture, PhD student in the sociology of architecture at EHESS), with Maurice Culot (architect-planner, former director of the History and Archives department of the French Institute of Architecture), Françoise Hamon (art historian, former head of heritage of the XXe century to the Inventory), and Dominique Hervier (former regional curator at the service of the Inventory in Ile-de-France) [total duration of the corpus: 5h54min. ]
  • Cooperation between thethe State and local authorities, 1959-2009. In order to enrich this history, some thirty witnesses-actors of this period agreed in 2007 and 2008 to be interviewed, illustrating the way in which the implementation of the cooperation took place on the ground. These interviews were partly transcribed in the book A shared ambition? Cooperation between the Ministry of Culture and local authorities (1959-2009), published in 2009 in Documentation française, (coll. Travaux et documents n°26) [total duration of the corpus: 32h26min.]
  • The action of Jean-Philippe Lecat, Minister of Culture and Communication. Series of interviews conducted between 2008 and 2013 by Françoise Mosser (regional director of cultural affairs, general curator of heritage), with Jean-Philippe Lecat and personalities close to the minister (members of his cabinet, directors, etc.). These testimonies contributed to the writing of the book Interviews with Jean-Philippe Lecat, Minister for Culture and Communication (1978-1981), (coll. Travaux et documents n° 37, La Documentation française, 2016, 488 p.) [total corpus duration: 32h40min.]
  • Study on the history of the Department of Studies and Research and the Department of Studies and Foresight with International (1963-1993). Five interviews conducted between 2009 and 2012 by Laurent Martin (professor of contemporary history at the University of Paris 8, member of the History Committee of the Ministry of Culture), on the occasion of the preparation of his authorisation to conduct research published under the title The cultural issue. International reflection on cultural policies, 1963-1993, (coll. Travaux et documents n° 33, La Documentation française, 2013, 434 p.) [total corpus duration: 7:45 a.m.]
  • History of the National Federation of Local Authorities for Culture (F.N.C.C.). Interviews conducted in 2010 by Pierre Moulinier (paleographer archivist, researcher at the Department of Studies and Research at the Ministry of Culture, correspondent of the History Committee), with 7 former presidents and vice-presidents of the FNCC. These testimonies contributed to the writing of the book Half a century in the service of a decentralized culture FNCC (1960-2010), (Pierre Moulinier, History Committee of the Ministry of Culture, F.N.C.C., 2010, 101 p.) [total duration of the corpus: 7h26min. ]

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Availability: Communicable according to Articles L.213-1 to L.213-7 of the French Heritage Code. Information and consultation methods : [comitehistoire@culture.gouv.fr]