Historical Material from UNO Libraries' Archives & Special Collections

The following information about the Oral History Collection of the Omaha Folklore Project was provided by UNO History professor Michael Tate: "This collection of several dozen taped interviews was assembled during the mid-1970s by mostly undergraduate UNO students under the direction of Dr. Michael Tate of the History Department. These tapes have not been transcribed, but each tape has a file folder containing an outline of the main points of the interview. These contain unique and detailed information about Omaha, Nebraska and rural towns from WWI through WWII." Prof. Tate provided the following information about the American Indian Oral History Taped Interviews portion of the collection: "This collection of several dozen taped interviews was assembled during the mid-1970s. Virtually all were conducted by UNO graduate students under the direction of Dr. Michael Tate of the UNO History Department. Most of the interview were with Native Americans who talked about education, health care, reservation life, urban life and a host of other relevant topics. These were mostly interviews with Lakota (Sioux), Omaha, and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) tribal people, but also include other tribal representations. A few of the interviews have been fully transcribed but the majority contain detailed outlines of what is contained in each separate interview. Many of the interviews deal with the militant activities of the American Indian Movement during that era. Several also were conducted with judges and law enforcement officers who dealt with the controversial trials following AIM's occupation of Wounded Knee."

In addition to the Goldstein's humanitarian efforts, the collection also contains extensive materials about the life of Shirley and Leonard Goldstein as well as their family. The collection contains information and photographs about Shirley's parents Ben and Selma Gershun, extensive genealogical research and photographs, Shirley's childhood in Council Bluffs, Shirley's high school and college scrapbooks, the Goldstein's marriage and married life, the Goldsteins' children and family life, as well as their work in political activism as well as freeing and relocating Refuseniks from the Soviet Union.

Shirley and Leonard were married during World War II and the collection holds their extensive correspondence. These correspondence are mainly letters Leonard would send to Shirley when he was in training to when he was stationed overseas. The letters are from the years of 1942-1945. The collection also features Leonard's photo albums from his service in the U.S. Army Air Corps in the Pacific theater, as well as his travels and site seeing when he was stationed overseas.

In the 1970s, Shirley Goldstein made several trips to the Soviet Union where she met with dissidents and witnessed firsthand the oppression of Soviet Jews. Goldstein smuggled in products the dissidents could sell until she came under scrutiny of Soviet authorities and was denied visas to visit. In 1973, Shirley and her friend, Miriam Simon, founded the Omaha Committee for Soviet Jewry, which sponsored the program, Freedom for Soviet Jews. The Goldsteins were also associated with many other organizations for Soviet Jewry including the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews.

Together, Shirley and her husband Leonard worked tirelessly for the resettlement of over 100 Jewish families in Nebraska. This was accomplished through public political protests and speaking to local and national representatives within the U.S. government as well as sponsoring and relocating Soviet Jews. Shirley is an especially prominent figure within the collection as she has received numerous awards and recognition for her efforts helping Soviet Jews obtain their freedom.

The Gouveia Papers are 9.5 cubic feet in size and contained within 23 document boxes. The Papers are divided into eight series: Advisory Board and Task Forces; Garden City, KS; Grand Island and Schuyler, NE; Lexington, NE; Grants, Papers and Presentations; Research Materials; Clippings; and Audiovisual material.