Read complete books and articles on: Oral History

Oral History - compilation of historical data through interviews, usually tape-recorded and sometimes videotaped, with participants in, or observers of, significant events or times. Primitive societies have long relied on oral tradition to preserve a record of the past in the absence of written histories. In Western society, the use of oral material goes back to the early Greek historians Herodotus (in his history of the Persian Wars) and Thucydides (in his History of the Peloponnesian War), both of whom made extensive use of oral reports from witnesses. The modern concept of oral history was developed in the 1940s by Allan Nevins and his associates at Columbia Univ. In creating oral histories, interviews are conducted to obtain information from different perspectives, many of which are often unavailable from written sources. Such materials provide data on individuals, families, important events, or day-to-day life.

The discipline came into its own in the 1960s and early 70s when inexpensive tape recorders were available to document such rising social movements as civil rights, feminism, and anti–Vietnam War protest. Authors such as Studs Terkel, Alex Haley, and Oscar Lewis have employed oral history in their books, many of which are largely based on interviews. In another important example of the genre, a massive archive covering the oral history of American music has been compiled at the Yale School of Music. By the end of the 20th cent. oral history had become a respected discipline in many colleges and universities. At that time the Italian historian Alessandro Portelli and his associates began to study the role that memory itself, whether accurate or faulty, plays in the themes and structures of oral history. Their published work has since become standard material in the field, and many oral historians now include in their research the study of the subjective memory of the persons they interview.

See S. Caunce, Oral History (1994); V. R. Yow, Recording Oral History (1994), R. Perks and A. Thomson, The Oral History Reader (repr. 1998).

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13 of the Best Books and Articles on: Oral History

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Doing Oral History: A Practical Guide » Read Now
by Donald A. Ritchie. 320 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Oral history is vital to our understanding of the cultures and experiences of the past. Unlike written history, oral history forever captures people's feelings, expressions, and nuances of language. But what exactly is oral history? How reliable is the information gathered by oral history? And what...
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Oral history is vital to our understanding of the cultures and experiences of the past. Unlike written history, oral history forever captures people's feelings, expressions, and nuances of language. But what exactly is oral history? How reliable is the information gathered by oral history? And what does it take to become an oral historian? Donald A. Ritchie, a leading expert in the field, answers these questions and, in particular, explains the principles and guidelines created by the Oral History Association to ensure the professional standards of oral historians. Doing Oral History has become one of the premier resources in the field of oral history. It explores all aspects of oral history, from starting an oral-history project, including funding, staffing, and equipment to conducting interviews; publishing; videotaping; preserving materials; teaching oral history; and using oral history in museums and on the radio. In this second edition, the author has incorporated new trends and scholarship, updated and expanded the bibliography and appendices, and added a new focus on digital technology and the Internet. Appendices include sample legal release forms and information on oral history organizations. Doing Oral History is a definitive step-by-step guide that provides advice and explanations on how to create recordings that illuminate human experience for generations to come. Illustrated with examples from a wide range of fascinating projects, this authoritative guide offers clear, practical, and detailed advice for students, teachers, researchers, and amateur genealogists who wish to record the history of their own families and communities.
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2.

Oral History: An Introduction for Students » Read Now
by James Hoopes. 155 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...Oral History Oral History AN INTRODUCTION FOR STUDENTS by James Hoopes The University...Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Hoopes, James, 1944- Oral history...
3.

Envelopes of Sound: The Art of Oral History » Read Now
by Ronald J. Grele. 286 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

What is it that oral historians do? Prior to the publication of Envelopes of Sound oral history was regarded as an archival practice and interviews were considered the repositories of data. Envelopes shows that the interview is a series of dialectical relationships embedded in language, social...
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What is it that oral historians do? Prior to the publication of Envelopes of Sound oral history was regarded as an archival practice and interviews were considered the repositories of data. Envelopes shows that the interview is a series of dialectical relationships embedded in language, social practice, and historical imagination. It merges theory and method through the analysis of the basic structures of the interview. It incorporates new thinking on the nature of narrative and conversation, and it covers new ground in examining fieldwork in a number of disciplines. While strongly theoretical, it also has direct application in conducting oral history interviews. "Ronald Grele is the dean of oral history in the United States, and Envelopes of Sound is the volume by which others will continue to be judged. Its contributions to methods and to meaning are still the place to start a serious discussion, whether with scholars or with high school students interviewing their grandparents." Paul M. Buhle Director, Oral History of the American Left New York University "Grele's early, groundbreaking book on oral history remains a classic. It continues to challenge the practitioner to be more self-conscious of and attentive to the nuances of the oral history interview." Sherna Berger Gluck Director, Oral History California State University, Long Beach
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4.

Interactive Oral History Interviewing » Read Now
by Eva M. McMahan, Kim Lacy Rogers. 172 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...INTERACTIVE ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEWING LEAS COMMUNICATION SERIES...Associates, Publishers. INTERACTIVE ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEWING Edited by Eva M...Cataloging-in-Publication...
5.

Subjectivity and Multiculturalism in Oral History » Read Now
by Ronald J. Grele. 258 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

This volume marks the transformation of the International Journal of Oral History from a journal publication to an annual. The objective of the publication remains the same: providing a forum for articles on oral history methodologies and research perspectives. This year, thirteen articles are...
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This volume marks the transformation of the International Journal of Oral History from a journal publication to an annual. The objective of the publication remains the same: providing a forum for articles on oral history methodologies and research perspectives. This year, thirteen articles are presented, ranging from Tamara Hareven's exploration of the world of the Japanese silk weaver to Glenn Adler's analysis of issues surrounding South African union activists. Other chapters explore student movements, immigrants, and women activists among the Palestinians.
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6.

The World Inside the Classroom: Using Oral History to Explore Racial and Ethnic Diversity, in Social Studies » Read Now
by Stephen Steinberg. 3 pgs.

Collections: History, Education, Entire Library

...World inside the Classroom: Using Oral History to Explore Racial and Ethnic Diversity...Students are asked to conduct an oral history of a person who has...
7.

Putting the Actors Back on Stage: Oral History in the Secondary School Classroom, in Social Studies » Read Now
by Margaret Smith Crocco. 6 pgs.

Collections: History, Education, Entire Library

...Putting the Actors Back on Stage: Oral History in the Secondary School Classroom...this essay, I propose the use of oral history as an antidote to the textbook...the...
8.

New Worlds From Old, in Social Studies » Read Now
by Claire Hirshfield. 5 pgs.

Collections: Education, Entire Library

...from Old An Experience in Oral History at the Elementary School Level...were introduced to the meaning of oral history and became familiar with some...interviewee. This...
9.

We Were Each Other's Prisoners: An Oral History of World War II American and German Prisoners of War » Read Now
by Lewis H. Carlson. 258 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...EACH OTHERS PRISONERS AN ORAL HISTORY OF WORLD WAR II AMERICAN AND GERMAN...were each others prisoners : an oral history of World War II American and German...Personal...
10.

War Stories: An Oral History of Life behind Bars » Read Now
by Susann Walens, Steven Egger. 190 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

Here is Gregory, who spent two years in solitary confinement before he was convicted of any crime; here is Ethiop, who was imprisoned for homicide despite the absence of a murder weapon, a motive, or witnesses to his alleged crime; and here is Mazar, a convicted murderer, who writes poetry, speaks...
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Here is Gregory, who spent two years in solitary confinement before he was convicted of any crime; here is Ethiop, who was imprisoned for homicide despite the absence of a murder weapon, a motive, or witnesses to his alleged crime; and here is Mazar, a convicted murderer, who writes poetry, speaks three languages fluently, and has a genius I.Q. Their War Stories, along with the stories of 13 other students in a Western Civilization class, are chronicled here by the teacher who earned their respect and trust while tracing the paths that brought them together behind the walls of a maximum security prison.
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11.

Swing to Bop: An Oral History of the Transition in Jazz in the 1940s » Read Now
by Ira Gitler. 336 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

This indispensable book brings us face to face with some of the most memorable figures in jazz history and charts the rise and development of bop in the late 1930s and '40s. Ira Gitler interviewed more than 50 leading jazz figures, over a 10-year period, to preserve for posterity their recollections...
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This indispensable book brings us face to face with some of the most memorable figures in jazz history and charts the rise and development of bop in the late 1930s and '40s. Ira Gitler interviewed more than 50 leading jazz figures, over a 10-year period, to preserve for posterity their recollections of the transition in jazz from the big band era to the modern jazz period. The musicians interviewed, including both the acclaimed and the unrecorded, tell in their own words how this renegade music emerged, why it was a turning point in American jazz, and how it influenced their own lives and work. Placing jazz in historical context, Gitler demonstrates how the mood of the nation in its post-Depression years, racial attitudes of the time, and World War II combined to shape the jazz of today.
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12.

Country School Memories: An Oral History of One-Room Schooling » Read Now
by Robert L. Leight, Alice Duffy Rinehart. 154 pgs.

Collections: Education, Entire Library

Small isolated country schools were the major educational institution in rural America for more than two hundred fifty years until they were replaced by consolidated schools by the second half of the twentieth century. Country School Memories uses the techniques of oral history to capture the...
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Small isolated country schools were the major educational institution in rural America for more than two hundred fifty years until they were replaced by consolidated schools by the second half of the twentieth century. Country School Memories uses the techniques of oral history to capture the insights of forty-seven individuals who had participated in the one-room school experience as teachers or students during the period from 1900-1955. Beginning with an overview of rural education during the twentieth century, the authors analyze the distinctive pedagogy of rural schoolteachers, the character of the teachers, and the culture of the schools. They discuss the school consolidation movement that ended the reign of one-room schoolhouses and draw conclusions about lessons that can be learned by contemporary educators from old-time schools.
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13.

Women's Oral History: The Frontiers Reader » Read Now
by Susan H. Armitage, Patricia Hart, Karen Weathermon. 392 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Women's Oral History includes nineteen essays from the journal Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, each addressing the particularity of women's lives and experience. The collection provides both "how to" interview guides and examples; describes the many uses of women's oral history; relates some...
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Women's Oral History includes nineteen essays from the journal Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, each addressing the particularity of women's lives and experience. The collection provides both "how to" interview guides and examples; describes the many uses of women's oral history; relates some discoveries and insights gained from oral history; and raises thought-provoking questions.
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