doi:10.7916/k3yz-5641Oral history interview with Gerald Kellman, 2022Kellman, Geraldoral historiesmixed materialPresidents--United StatesCommunity organization--Chicago (Ill.)Community development--Chicago (Ill.)Social action--United StatesSouth Chicago (Chicago, Ill.) Social conditionsKellman, GeraldObama, BarackGerald Kellman reflects on his career as a community organizer, and discusses his relationship with Barack Obama, whom he hired in 1985 as the apprentice director of the Developing Communities Project. Kellman considers the history of community organizing in Chicago; outlines the methods, practices, and strategies of the community organizing efforts with which he was closely involved; and discusses the prevailing conditions in the communities on Chicago's South Side in which he worked, including the closure of steel mills and long-term deindustrialization. Kellman shares memories of his initial impressions of Obama and of their work together, considers the attributes that made Obama well-suited to organizing on the South Side, and describes the importance of one-on-one conversations with community members to their work. Kellman also speaks widely about major themes relevant to Obama's years in Chicago and later political trajectory, including the diversity of South Side communities, the limitations of community organizing and the importance of formal political power, the significance of Harold Washington's election and the electoral prospects of Black candidates, and the role of the Black church and the development of Obama's relationships with faith-based institutions. Also discussed are the evolution of Obama's political ambitions, Obama's involvement with workforce and vocational education programs, and Kellman's pseudonymous treatment in Obama's book "Dreams From My Father"