11.3 Oral History

A wonderful way to honor family members and archive living memories is through oral history interviews. Consider who would be the most interesting person to interview. Is there someone who is a natural storyteller, is expressive, and open to sharing? Maybe the oldest living person should be interviewed before it is too late? Recording many perspectives of a family story is also a good way to preserve information. Researchers should be thoughtful and smart about planning which interviewees to focus on because conducting and preserving information from oral interviews, while exciting and fulfilling, is time-consuming.

There are many cultures that rely on oral history rather than documentation. Genealogy is complicated in those parts of the world because of the lack of written records, but researchers may also find that oral histories go back much further than documents could. In her oral history guide, Linda Barnickel writes:

Storytelling is an essential part of being human. Long before written language, the memory of the tribe, culture, civilization, faith, and family was passed down through oral tradition and storytelling. It is a way of learning lessons from the past, grounding oneself in a greater whole, and placing oneself squarely in history, building connections between past, present, and future.1

No matter the culture, doing oral history interviews is an important part of being a researcher. The following are suggestions for making the most of an opportunity to interview a living research subject:

  1. Make an appointment with the interviewee and make it clear this is not a visit. This will be a formal interview.

  2. If appropriate, use an oral history consent form. Be upfront about how the recording and information will be used in the future.

  3. Tell the interviewee what to expect. Let him or her know ahead of time one or two topics of greatest interest.

  4. Test equipment before the interview. Phones are great recorders for audio and video but make sure everything is working and the lighting is right.

  5. Prepare your questions. Choose a couple of subjects or a specific time of life to focus on. One interview is not sufficient for completing an entire life history. This is the interviewee’s chance to make a record of what they would like to memorialize, but the person conducting the interview should be prepared with key questions to help keep the conversation centered on the focus topics.

  6. Between 30 and 90 minutes is right for an interview. If something more needs to be addressed, follow up with another session.

  7. Have a plan to transcribe, store, and share the interview.

The Oral History Association lists best practices and provides information about ethics on their website. Other samples of oral history can be found as part of the StoryCorps project sponsored by National Public Radio from exercise 11A.2

ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW CITATION SAMPLES

CHICAGO STYLE:

The note for oral communications should include the name of the person speaking, a description of mode of communication such as telephone call or in-person interview, who was interviewing the person, and the date in written out month, numerical day, followed by the year.3

Dok Ban Yen, in-person interview by Melian Travington, 10 October 2024.

EVIDENCE EXPLAINED:

Person interviewed and identifying information, (location) , type of interview by interviewer, date of interview; current forma of the interview, privately hed by interviewer, location of interviewer, standardized date the citation was created.4

Dok Ban Yen, relationship to subject Kriang Krai (Bangkok, Thailand), interview by Melian Travington, 10 October 2024; audio recording, privately held by interviewer in Saugus, Los Angeles, United States, 25 January 2025.

SENSIBLE CITATION:

Explanation of the subject of the oral memory with family and person in parenthesis year born or died, then detail who was sharing the memory followed by the standardized place where the person lived, and then the standardized date of the conversation.

Family Tradition about Kriang Krai (born 1892) traveling to Japan by ship, as told by Dok Ban Yen of Bangkok, Thailand, 10 October 2024.

Want to try our built-in assessments?


Use the Request Full Access button to gain access to this assessment.
Previous Next