The Federal Writers’ Project, an initiative of the New Deal’s Federal Project One, included one of the first large scale oral history projects which employed out-of work writers and journalists to conduct interviews with 1000s of Americans, including many who had grown up enslaved. The narratives remains a vital record for understanding nineteenth and early […]
In OHR’s 2023 special issue on “Disrupting Best Practices,” Douglas Lambert presented an overview of the last several decades of oral history indexing, a strategy for creating entry points in oral history audio and video. Here, we ask Doug a few questions about the practice and what it means for the state of the field […]
As 2024 began, Abby, Dave, and Janneken wrapped up their six years serving as editors of the Oral History Review, and Holly Werner -Thomas stepped in to lead the new editorial team. We asked Holly a few questions about what she plans for the next several years. This is a first in a series of posts […]
In OHR’s spring 2023 issue,scholar Estelle B. Freedman shares her findings from a macro-level analysis of oral history databases in order to analyze women’s memories and responses to sexual harassment and violence. Freedman’s research shows the potential of applying digital humanities tools for distance reading to the close reading of intimate details of oral histories. […]
The Oral History Review invites submissions with a special focus on intersections of oral history and disability. Submit full articles by 31 March 2024. The Oral History Review is happy to announce a call for papers for a special issue dedicated to oral history and disability. It is currently slated for publication in Spring 2025. […]
It’s once again that time of year when oral historians from across the globe unite for the annual meeting. Here we preview some sessions and events the editorial team is looking forward to. By Janneken Smucker We were supposed to all be in Baltimore for the Oral History Association Annual Meeting in fall of 2020. […]
We ask authors of books reviewed in Oral History Review to answer 5 questions about why we should read their books. In our latest installment of the series, Michael Patrick Cullinane discusses his book, Remembering Theodore Roosevelt: Reminiscences of His Contemporaries which is reviewed in the latest issue of OHR. Read Rachel B Lane’s review of Remembering Theodore […]
We ask authors of books reviewed in Oral History Review to answer 5 questions about why we should read their books. In our latest installment of the series, Chia Y Vang discusses her books Fly Until You Die: An Oral History of Hmong Pilots in Vietnam War and Prisoner of Wars: A Hmong Fighter Pilot’s […]
In OHR’s spring Issue, scholar Renata Schellenberg analyzes the Blue Book, a document dependent on oral testimonies that reported the abuses that native South West Africans suffered under German colonial hands. Her study provides a new perspective on the Blue Book by critically analyzing the political intentions of the document and the historical circumstances of […]
Food trucks can serve up more than delicious street food! They can serve a dual purpose as an innovative way of interacting and recording oral history. University of Winnipeg Professors Janis Thiessen, Kent Davis, and Kimberley Moore created a classroom experience that allowed students to dive into their first oral history interviews while extending their […]
