In Phase One, the founders of Objectivism will be interviewed.  The focus will be on surviving members of the original “collective,” and others associated with Ayn Rand during the 1950’s to the 1970’s.  Because of their age, these individuals will be given the highest priority.

In Phase Two, the emphasis will be on interviews with individuals who have made significant contributions to the advancement of Objectivist philosophy in later years--primarily 1970’s to the present.

Phase Three will be an on-going series of interviews with those currently making important contributions to Objectivism and will ensure an ongoing and comprehensive historical archive.

Uncensored history

A list of potential interviewees was created in consultation with a range of Objectivist scholars and former associates of Ayn Rand. Interviewees are being invited to participate based solely on their relevance to Objectivist history and not upon their current affiliations or their adherence to a philosophical purity test.

Participants are welcome to speak on any area related to their involvement with Objectivism, including: the formation and evolution of Objectivist philosophic ideas; the unfolding of events during those early years; personal anecdotes of Ayn Rand and others; opinions on the strength and flaws of Objectivism; speculation on the future of the philosophy.

General topic areas and specific questions are prepared for the interview sessions in consultation with an advisory group and with the interviewee. During the videotaping, an off-camera interviewer leads the discussion.

There are no restrictions on the subject areas other than there be some connection to Objectivism. 

The responses may be as long as needed. Multiple interview sessions will be scheduled with an individual if necessary.  Participants have an opportunity to review the videotape interviews and, if they believe any portion does not accurately reflect their views, to have those portions redone, if they so choose.

The Archive – Open, unrestricted access

The completed video interviews will be compiled onto master tapes and DVDs.  The content of the interviews will be indexed by subject matter so that relevant material can be accessed and viewed easily. These DVDs will then be preserved in The Atlas Society archive, where they will be available for review and study by journalists, scholars, students of Objectivism, and the general public. The public will have access to the unedited interviews via a library-type system. A user fee will be charged for access to the archive. 

No one is to be denied access to the Objectivist History Project archive because of their philosophical beliefs.

TAS, at its discretion, will also make selected interview DVD’s available through direct sales. In this way, your support of The Objectivist History Project not only makes the interviewing possible, it has the added value of helping the on-going work of The Atlas Society itself!

In addition, selected excerpts from the interviews will be licensed for television documentaries, educational videos and TV news journalism.

As a contributor to OHP, you will have exclusive opportunities to acquire and own interview DVD’s for your personal viewing at substantial savings.

How the videos benefit Objectivism

  Scholarly Research.  The archive will be an invaluable resource for the scholarly study of the evolution of Objectivist thought. 

  Journalism Research.  Researchers and writers of books, journals, magazine articles, textbooks, newspaper features, television documentaries and news features will have a comprehensive and easy-to-use source of information. 

We hope that the tendency of writers, especially non-Objectivists, to speculate on the views of Objectivists will be diminished through the use of the archive.

  Television Production.  The availability of such an archive encourages television journalists and documentary filmmakers to explore such issues as limited government, rational individualism, free market economies, personal liberties, Objectivism, Libertarianism, and the writings of Ayn Rand.  When media producers can draw from a pre-existing resource such as The Objectivist History Archive, their projects become more economically and logistically feasible.

Budget and Schedule

  The cost to videotape and archive each person’s interview is about $5,000. That covers all personnel, facilities, equipment, and travel for the production of the videotapes and for archiving duplication. The goal of the OHP is to interview 30 people over the next two years – a projected150 hours of completed interviews!

In order to complete Phases One and Two, we will need to have raised $150,000. That’s why we need your help today….

Every contribution, large or small, helps to make this work possible.