The archive holds forty-six oral history cassette tapes (converted to CD) and miscellaneous items donated by the interviewees. The collection documents the lives and experiences of individuals in different ethnic communities in the North Bay region. Most of these interviews took place in the mid to late 1970's. Only some interviews are transcribed. A portion of the archive is comprised of photographs, slides and a narrative report from the director of Granada Relocation Camp in Amache, Colorado, a World War II Japanese-American internment camp.

In 1977, the Rockefeller Foundation awarded Sonoma State University’s American Multicultural Studies Department a grant to create the North Bay Ethnic Archive. Professor Joseph Giovinco directed the project.

The library can only claim physical ownership of the collection. Users are responsible for satisfying any claimants of literary property.

Access Collection is open for research by appointment.