Grey College Oral History

The historical Grey College and its Old Boys influence can be felt across the world on various stages in public life. This influence varies from the field of academics (University rectors e.g. Prof Frederick Fourie of UFS, Prof JC van der Walt – RAU, Prof Frank Horwitz – Director: UCT School of Busines), corporate world (Richard Gus of Anglo American, Wilhelm Landman, Richemond ), world of law (Judge Percy Fischer, Nico Coetzer - President of order of attorneys),), field of politics  (Various presidents e.g. Pres MT Steyn en Pres CR Swart and activists e.g. Abraham Fisher, politicians e.g. Klasie Havenga, Albert Hertzog, Manie Schoeman, Kraai Van Niekerk, etc), literary world (Etienne Le Roux, Sir Lourens van der Post, W.A. de Klerk, Eben Venter) and also the world of sport.

The objective of the audio- visual project is to capture reminisces and stories of the old students experiences at Grey with the purpose to preserve it for future generations. In contemporary history writing, oral witnesses are becoming more important as one of the major historical sources a modern researcher has access to.

From a contemporary historical perspective, there exist various books about the history of Grey College as contained in commemorative books. Not much attention is paid to the experiences of the students against the bigger picture (groot geheel) of the school through the various development phases it moved. The aim was rather to interview the bigger role-players with the mystique that had surrounded them, to interview the average student. For the first time there is a focused project in which the ordinary student can share its world of experiences and tell how it was to be a part of the Grey family.

With the knowledge of the producer, it is the first time that an endeavour of this sort is taken on to capture the experiences of Old Greys. This project can deliver a important contribution about the various elements experiences within Grey College before it disappears in the mist of times.