oral history essay example

oral history essay example

The Value and Impact of Oral History: An In-depth Analysis

1. Introduction to Oral History

The broad discipline of oral history has the capacity to address the experiences and memories of people who may not have previously been represented in mainstream histories or historical data sources. By recording the life histories and narratives of people in all walks of life and at different historical moments, it provides a never-before-attainable record of the development and transformation of societies, thereby enriching the knowledge of the past. At the same time, it promotes historical awareness and understanding among various categories of citizens. As both an academic discipline and as a public history practice, oral history contributes to the creation of innovative resources, such as life stories and audio-visual productions. When compared with written and visual sources, oral history is unique as it is the rich individual level of personal testimony referring to subjective experiences and conveying emotions. It may thus contribute vitally to what the historian has called a “people’s history.”

Oral history is based on collecting the recollections of people who have experienced a certain event or lived through a particular historical era. Oral history interviews often take the form of conversations between the interviewer and the interviewee, who, through the sharing of his or her individual experiences, enriches the historical information available on that certain period or theme. Oral history thus plays an essential role in the construction of a truly collective history. Social memory needs to be a shared memory so as to avoid the imposition of a uniform vision of history based on the power of a particular group or institution. Thanks to oral history, all members of society can become actors in the writing of history.

2. Methodologies and Approaches in Oral History Research

A wide range of software packages are emerging as essential research and publication tools, for example, the Oral History Society uses Grabbing History, currently the only package tailored to the requirements of the academic historian. Generally, however, they are unproblematic, easy-to-use materials, well-tested, and suited to general consumer requirements, typically from major companies operating out of the private sector such as Microsoft, Apple, and Adobe. They tend to be primarily tailored for recording basic personal details, transcripts, or downloads of short voice recordings and have no specialist facilities such as representational, analytical, or sophisticated uses.

Since the emergence of oral history research as an area of activity in a wide range of disciplines, there has been a central focus on the methodologies and approaches employed by practitioners. Originating from its roots in folklore studies, oral history has extended beyond the remit of recorded oral reminiscence to incorporate elements of ethnographic, anthropological, and sociological research. There is a long tradition of interest in oral history techniques and methodologies, but in many aspects, this tends to be repetitive and uninformative to experienced practitioners in the field. However, the field is dynamic and evolving.

3. Preservation and Ethical Considerations in Oral History

Involved IRB review of oral history content is a highly controversial subject, even now in the post-Moore and post-HHSR report days. IRBs polled during various workshops at the MGH event were split approximately 60% to 40% in favor of requiring IRB review for oral history protocols. Although this figure may not represent the larger body of IRBs, the issue is certainly significant to many institutions. Similarly, representatives from two academic professional organizations at the MGH event stated that they and their boards and members hold different opinions about whether their disciplines should have any guidance on oral history interviews and results. Mass digitizing efforts in these disciplines were of particular concern. Interviews that often took years to complete, that were based on close relationships of the discussants, and that touched on personal subjects or sensitive subjects rooted in a broader community’s identity often underlie the concerns. For those institutions that are local by charter or in practice, the closely related concepts of involvement with and support of the community, especially those communities from which the institutions draw their support or to which they provide support, are often deeply ingrained in the culture and explicit components of the institution’s mission statement.

Ethical considerations are critical to the practice of oral history. To gain the trust of the participants, and more broadly, the community to which they belong, and to allow good historical scholarship, oral historians try to minimize harm. Often, the effective recording of the interview is the principal objective, but the use of the interview material by others, including the interviewee, may raise ethical questions as well. Participants in the event at MGH voiced concerns about technological advances that might heighten individuals’ ability to analyze interview content. While scholars broadly share an ethical approach, the situation of each researcher and the intent of the project will have different implications. Institutional Review Board (IRB) application and approval may be required for any research that is associated with an academic institution, and the IRB process typically requires close attention to ethical issues for the behavior of the principal investigator as well as the extent of the potential for harm.

4. The Role of Oral History in Shaping Collective Memory and Identity

Simply stated, oral history assumes that the past is the lifeblood of the present. It assumes that conversations with individuals who participated in past events, and who, by narration, provide an in-depth examination of their individual lives, incomplete as their stories may be, are able to provide an absolutely vital foundation for our understanding and for our interpretation. Perhaps most important of all, oral histories force us to seriously consider the possibility that the dominant story and the preferred outcome may not, after all, be the complete or the correct one. Considering the sources of support from both within the security and intelligence community and from outside, suggests that the recent surge in the importance of oral history in intelligence studies may provide unexpected insights into the unintended consequences of the institutionalization of intelligence that have directly contributed to the shaping of intelligence as we know it today, notwithstanding the diversity of the information collected.

As this paper has demonstrated, oral history is a valuable modality to mine fresh data about important events, ideas, and people and to gain new perspectives. It is an exchange of information, an act of mutual and reciprocal understanding, and a shared satisfaction in the dual goals of sharing and of hearing. Importantly, unlike many other sources of information, oral history has the potential to humanize and enrich perspectives, shed light on the unspoken and the unmeasured, exercise ethical feedback, and help the individuals who took part in these events to learn from the experience, assuming that they wish to learn and that they place sufficient trust in the oral historian to reveal to them their acquired knowledge. For those who confide their secrets and share their fears and who analyze their emotions together with facts, oral history offers a special kind of therapy and transference.

5. Case Studies and Examples of Oral History Projects

Perhaps one concern raised about incorporating service learning into an oral history project is whether it achieves some academic objectives to the level of a completely student-driven qualitative research experience. In our case, each group of students chose several areas to manage, including the title, aimed learning outcome, data collection methodology, interview protocols, debriefing, and result discussions, among the many other activities involved. As we advised the groups, we were able to stay true to the collaborative partnership model’s ethical mandate that research collection and dissemination are equitable in terms of valuing the contributions of both the university partner and our research participants. Furthermore, the initial expectation is that oral history can help students feel more connected and motivated to learn the academic relationships behind abstract scientific concepts.

Oral history has been an essential tool in understanding historical events and past individuals. Its value comes from the fact that it allows the recording and preservation of the life stories and behaviors of a wide variety of people over a relatively short period of time when compared to the time scales associated with other, more traditional data sources, such as church and county records, popular culture, and other forms of public memory and folklore. Oral history projects, especially those that focus on the personal memories of individuals linked by shared experiences and strong institutions, can offer insight on a communal and institutional level. This is why we believe such focus offers a triple threat to research and serves as the impetus for expanding public discourse about the value and impact of oral historical methods.