How Do You Write An Oral History Interview?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

, , , ,
  1. Select an interviewee.
  2. Ask the interviewee if they are interested.
  3. If interviewee is interested, set up a time and place for the interview. …
  4. Write a follow-up email confirming plans for the interview that discusses the goals, legal rights, and how the interviews will be handled.

How do you write an oral history?

  1. Formulate a central question or issue.
  2. Plan the project. …
  3. Conduct background research.
  4. Interview.
  5. Process interviews.
  6. Evaluate research and interviews and cycle back to. …
  7. Organize and present results.
  8. Store materials archivally.

How do you conduct an oral interview?

  1. Select an interviewee.
  2. Ask the interviewee if they are interested.
  3. If interviewee is interested, set up a time and place for the interview. …
  4. Write a follow-up email confirming plans for the interview that discusses the goals, legal rights, and how the interviews will be handled.

What are examples of oral history?

  • After the Day of Infamy: “Man-on-the-Street” Interviews Following the Attack on Pearl Harbor. …
  • Black Oral History Collection. …
  • Civil Rights History Project at the Library of Congress. …
  • Civil Rights in Mississippi Digital Archives.

How many types of oral history interview are there?

Oral histories generally consist of

three distinct phases

: a pre-interview phase, the interview itself, and a post-interview phase.

What are the elements of oral history?

Four key elements of oral history work are

preparation, interviewing, preservation, and access

. Oral historians should give careful consideration to each at the start of any oral history project, regardless of whether it is comprised of one or many interviews.

Why are oral histories important?

At times, an interview may serve as the only source of infor- mation available about a certain place, event, or person. Oral history helps us understand how individuals and communities experi- enced the forces of history.

What is a synonym for oral history?

In this page you can discover 6 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for oral history, like: ,

narrative history

How do you use oral history in a sentence?


At the time of her oral history, she was a sculptor

. Oral history practice has produced some useful pointers to how such training might be focused. It is a compilation of oral history rather than a biography. The book’s greatest strength is its reliance on oral history, but this is also a weakness.

How reliable is oral history?

Because oral histories rely on the memory of individuals, some of my colleagues believe they are less reliable sources than written documents. But

oral histories really can correct, confirm, and add to the historical record

.

How do you end an oral history interview?

RETREAT: Close

each interview session by asking a “deflationary” question

, such as an assessment of the experiences just discussed. All sessions should be planned and scheduled so that they conclude before the interviewee becomes fatigued.

What is the scope of oral history?

“Oral History” is a maddeningly imprecise term: it is used to refer to

formal, rehearsed accounts of the past presented by culturally sanctioned tradition-bearers

; to informal conversations about “the old days” among family members, neighbors, or coworkers; to printed compilations of stories told about past times and …

What are the six elements of oral history?

Alessandro Portelli identifies six elements that mark out oral history as intrinsically different or peculiar from other historical sources. These are

orality, narrative, subjectivity, credibility, objectivity and authorship

. To these might be added performativity, mutability and collaboration.

Can oral history be written?

Oral history strives to obtain information from different perspectives and most of these

cannot be found in written sources

. Oral history also refers to information gathered in this manner and to a written work (published or unpublished) based on such data, often preserved in archives and large libraries.

What are the strengths of oral sources?

The strengths of oral history would be that

they are primary and first hand sources

, which adds credibility. For example, a WWII veteran would be a much better source of information about the war, then someone who has simply read about it.

What is oral history method?

What is Oral History? Oral history is

a method of conducting historical research through recorded interviews between a narrator with personal experience of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer

, with the goal of adding to the historical record.

Juan Martinez
Author
Juan Martinez
Juan Martinez is a journalism professor and experienced writer. With a passion for communication and education, Juan has taught students from all over the world. He is an expert in language and writing, and has written for various blogs and magazines.