The Oral History Section of the Society of American Archivists is composed of members of the Society and others who are interested in or are actively engaged in conducting oral history interviews and/or teach oral history methodology. The Oral History Section provides a forum for news, for discussion of issues and developments, and for establishing and maintaining communication and cooperation with other professional organizations.
News & Announcements
In 2017, the staff of the Billy Graham Center Archives at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois transcribed over 38 hours of oral history interviews, filling 646 pages. Most of these transcripts have been put online. Among the topics covered in the interviews are holistic social and evangelistic outreach in Mississippi, student ministry in the Philippines, educational work in Lebanon, Protestant missions in China, Kenya, the Belgian Congo, Colombia, Tibet, and India; and the history of Christian radio.
Agenda and information regarding the Oral History Section Session at SAA 2017 Annual Meeting -- Portland, Oregon, July 26, 4-5:15, Room A105
OHS Chair-Elect Amanda Pellerin
With more than one hundred years’ worth of history to process and preserve, the University Archives (established 2006) at Texas State University has accomplished much in its eleven years of operation. One of the Archives’ most recent projects focuses on digitizing its oral history collections. Consisting of over two hundred interviews that span topics from alumnus President Lyndon B. Johnson to Texans’ roles in the early days of NASA, many of these oral histories had remained untouched since their creation ten, fifteen, and even thirty years ago.
Following the 2016 election, Denver, Colorado has experienced a new wave of grassroots, activist activity. Citizens who had previously not interacted with the state are taking new measures to speak to their local and national governments, often en masse, in marches and rallies with attendance in the hundreds to tens of thousands. Given this new, and likely impermanent trend in Denver and nationwide, the Documenting Denver Activism Archives Project will be undertaking a case study in order to create a new methodology specific to documenting protests as they occur through a new method called ‘guerrilla oral history.’
The American Folklife Center is pleased to announce the online launch of the Occupational Folklife Project (OFP), a major oral history initiative of the American Folklife Center (AFC) at the Library of Congress documenting the diverse culture of contemporary American workers. The first installment features “Working the Port of Houston,” a collection of over 50 interviews recorded during 2011-2012 by folklorists at the Houston Arts Alliance.
