Please read carefully to see if you meet our access eligibility requirements:

The 1947 Partition Archive’s complete oral history collections are now available to researchers.  

Raw, unprocessed footage for all interviews is available for advanced research and educational purposes as it arrives at The 1947 Partition Archive.  Archive access is available to everyone, including academic researchers, museum and collections curators, authors, filmmakers, other educational media makers and the general public. 

Three Ways to Access The 1947 Partition Archive

1. Streaming access via your university library

Researchers may now request streaming access directly to their institutional libraries.  Please ask your librarian to get in touch with us (or write to collections [at] 1947partitionarchive [dot] org) if there is interest in an institutional subscription.  This is an excellent choice for institutions interested in using the collections for classroom teaching or for research purposes. The streaming platform allows for self-directed free-form research. Accredited university and college libraries are eligible for the new on-demand streaming subscription service. 

2. Paid streaming access for an individual researcher

Aspiring researchers whose universities may not be subscribers may fill out the form below to gain access.  Because of the sensitive nature of the content, accessibility to collections via online streaming (paid) is currently limited to professional researchers with institutional affiliations only.  NOTICE: Please note that we are at capacity for access through January 15, 2027.  Please book accordingly.

A note about individual remote access:  Remote access is offered to researchers on a case by case basis only, and the researcher will be responsible for the remote access streaming platform fee. Researchers could bypass this process by asking their institutional library to contact us and subscribe to the collection for safe streaming via library systems.

In making our decision for granting access we will access the following features of your proposal: 1) importance and relevance of the research topic with respect to the contents of the archive, 2) the seriousness of the research project and 3) the Principal Investigator’s previous work (if you are a graduate student doing a first time research project, we will access the quality of your advisor’s previous work, so we suggest listing your advisor as the Principal Investigator).

Please use the initial screening form below to answer a few basic questions.  We will send you the full application form if you meet the eligibility requirements. Contact us for more information.

3. Free access at our Berkeley HQ

The collections are available for access by appointment at our Berkeley HQ.  We offer both free tiers and paid access tiers. Everyone is welcome. NOTICE: Please note that we are at capacity for access through January 15, 2027.  Please book accordingly.

A note about on-site access:  Researchers are responsible for travel and lodging arrangements in Berkeley.  Our staff can provide guidance and recommendations. 

Please use the initial screening form below to answer a few basic questions.  We will send you the full application form if you meet the eligibility requirements. Contact us for more information.

Other Ways to Access the Collections

More free access:

There’s more good news for online public access. A subset of oral history interviews are currently streaming online via the Stanford University Libraries’ Digital Repository.  

Are you wanting access to your own oral history interview?

Furthermore, verified family members of interviewees, with the interviewees’ permission, may request access to their oral history interviews via this online form.  Thank you for your patience as we work through the logistics of dissemination around this significant and delicate collection.