EDUCATION

Everyone has a story to tell:
Why oral history is important

Oral history can be used to study just about any subject you can imagine. Personal interviews can be used to discover a perspective not found anywhere else, or to track social, cultural and other issues that were never documented. Those interviewed do not have to be famous or of historical importance; they can be everyday people talking about their ordinary lives.

Oral history is both a research technique and a way of documenting and preserving stories and historical information. It provides a method to discover personal perspectives, gather detailed information on a wide range of subjects, and uncover the kind of history that often goes unwritten.

Use First State Stories to learn how to conduct an oral history,
teach in your classroom, find oral history resources,
research a project, or discover the story of a friend or relative.

Oral history as a documentation process first began with audio tape interviews conducted by the Federal Writers' Project in the 1930s and 1940s. Today, scholars have developed professional practices improve the value and quality of oral histories, making use of modern digital audio and video technology.

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a state agency of the National Endowment for the Humanities

and the Delaware Heritage Commission.

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