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Library

Sam Pratt

January 28, 2024

|

Hudson, NY

Song

Recorded by

Kristina Samulewski

This interview is available in-person only. Please get in touch if you would like to listen.
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Summary:

This interview was conducted with Sam Pratt at the Hudson Area Library Community Room in Hudson, N.Y. Sam is a former resident of Hudson who now lives a simple life in the woods in Columbia County. He initially moved to Hudson, NY from New York City during the late 1990s. In this interview, he recounts that move and how moving to Hudson felt similar to the town depicted in "The Possessed" by Fyodor Dostoevsky, a novel he was reading at the time. Sam unintentionally stopped his career as writer and reporter after moving to Hudson, and by getting to more intimately know both the city and residents, became involved in Hudson's local government. Sam recounts his more than 25 years living in Columbia County and what it was like to be involved in politics, specifically his experience leading a campaign to stop a 300-million-dollar cement plant owned by a Swiss multinational corporation from being built in Hudson. This interview may be of interest to people who want to learn about Hudson's history and political life, details of what happened during the cement plant campaign, contradictions between politics and people, gentrification and change, small town living, and the tiny details of what makes Hudson the city it is.  

‍**Note: Due to a technical error, the first few minutes of Sam's interview are not captured on tape. The tape begins midway through Sam's introduction of himself.

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Themes:
Activism and Advocacy
,
Cement Factory
,
Politics
,
City Government
,
New York City
,
Writing
,
Local History
,
Interviewer Bio:
Kristina Samulewski

Kristina Samulewski is a recurring participant of the Oral History Summer School. She grew up in New Jersey and is half German andUkrainian. She has a B.A. in English, sociology and art history from the University of Vermont. Her current job is working in podcasting at The New YorkTimes.

Additional Info:
Interview language(s):
English
,
Audio quality:
medium

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Low - There is some background noise and the narrator is hard to hear.

Medium - There is background noise, but the narrator is audible.

High - There is little background noise and the narrator is audible.

Permissions: 

This interview is hereby made available for research purposes only. For additional uses (radio and other media, music, internet), please click here to inquire about permissions.

Part of this interview may be played in a radio broadcast or podcast.

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.”

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