This oral history interview is an intimate conversation between two people, both of whom have generously agreed to share this recording with Oral History Summer School, and with you. Please listen in the spirit with which this was shared.
This interview is hereby made available for research purposes only. For additional uses (radio and other media, music, internet), please inquire about permissions.
All rights are reserved by Oral History Summer School.
Researchers will understand that:
This oral history interview was conducted with Alan Coon in an art studio in Hudson, New York on June 15, 2015. Born in Rochester, New York, Coon, a graphic designer relocated to Hudson after marrying Kelley, a Hudson native. Coon, with his wife Kelley who has deep roots in Hudson, own "Spotty Dog", a bookstore and bar on Warren Street that also sells art supplies. Coon describes how Spotty Dog, which still bares original traces of a former firehouse and his wife's family's political past, evolved into a popular hangout for people who like to read and drink.
This interview may be of interest to people who enjoy learning how a creative family business thrives and about a building with historical significance in the heart of Hudson's business district.
Born in Rochester, New York, I am an Asian American civil rights attorney and community advocate. I teach adjunct at Columbia University and New York University. Now, in my mid-fifties, I am documenting, through writing, more of my work and personal experiences of myself and others who share similar health issues. Oral History Summer School taught me the basics on how to capture the first hand accounts of people's life histories, newly acquired skills I will apply to collecting stories of Asian American women living with breast cancer.
Oral history is an iterative process. In keeping with oral history values of anti-fixity, interviewees will have an opportunity to add, annotate and reflect upon their lives and interviews in perpetuity. Talking back to the archive is a form of “shared authority.”