The Oral History Center at SSU was created by one of the original faculty members, Collum Davis. It was created in 1971 and lasted through 1991. Oral histories were collected from a variety of sources such professors and staff members of SSU as well as various peoples from the Sangamon River watershed. Included in these oral histories were coal miners, members of the Black communities, Immigrants, Jewish members, Politicians, farm families, WWII conscientious objectors, and prisoners of war. Many of them have been digitized and are available for reading and listening on the Illinois Digital Archives website.

The Shawneetown Project were oral histories done by the Oral History Office under contract with the Illinois Department of Conservation. The project documented the history of the State Bank of Illinois at Shawneetown through oral history interviews and identification of known photographs and artifacts as well as documented covering the history of the bank and building from 1837-1926. The project narrators also discuss the structure and furnishings of the former State Bank of Illinois, its history, its personnel, the town of Shawneetown and the disastrous 1937 Ohio River flood.