What is Oral History?
“Oral history collects memories and personal commentaries of historical significance through recorded interviews.” Donald Ritchie, Doing Oral History “Oral history is a field of study and a method of gathering, preserving and interpreting the voices and memories of people, communities, and participants in past events. Oral history is both the oldest type of historical inquiry, predating the written word, and one of the most modern, initiated with tape recorders in the 1940s and now using 21st-century digital technologies.”
Oral History Association. https://oralhistory.org/about/do-oral-history/ Oral histories seek to fill gaps in the historical record and preserve our own current histories for the future. Oral histories are recorded, transcribed, and shared.