Origins and Key Areas

Donald A. Ritchie wrote an article in 2011 on the subject of recorded interviews as part of oral history. He claims that the first use of the term “oral history” in relation to interviews first appeared in 1942 in the New Yorker magazine. This was in relation to a man named Joe Gould, who was compiling these types of histories. ¹ Allan Nevins, a history professor at the University of Columba, popularised this practice within the academic field. He took skills he learned from his journalism career to interview ordinary people for archival material.

Ritchie compares the difference in approach between the US and Europe in how oral history was adopted. He highlighted that while the US focused on the history of political and cultural elites, Europeans focused on “bottom-up” narratives. The idea was to empower the marginalised groups whose voices had not been heard properly. ² In Britain in 1966, the History workshop was founded by historians Ruskin College. Their plan was to combine the skills of researchers, local historians, curators, archivists, and history enthusiasts to build a clearer picture of social history. ³ Oral history, therefore, became a significant tool.

Bartie and McIvor

Angela Bartie and Arthur McIver also discuss oral history in their 2013 article. The two historians reiterate the use of oral history in bringing light to hidden communities such as different migrant groups. ⁴ In particular, they discuss how this development challenged the narrative around “separate spheres” of men and women being in public and private respectively. By using the stories collated in recordings, the true experience could come out. Bartie and McIvor make reference to the work of Abrams (and Young) on the topic of the working-class men especially. Abrams’ argument was that working-class fathers were far more positive as head figures that the stereotypes would show. This again is a result of oral testimony. ⁵

Scottish Perspective

Furthermore, Bartie and McIvor’s article focuses on Scotland as a case study. They mention that interviews of rural life in the 1960s, pioneered by Alexander Fenton, was intertwined with growing Scottish nationalist sentiment. They discuss the interdisciplinary involvement from various sectors. Examples they include are Ian Carter, a sociologist from the University of Aberdeen, and David Edge, a scientist from the University of Edinburgh. ⁶ In the late 1990s, the nature of oral history, according to Bartie and McIvor, changed in Scotland. They mention the incorporation of linguistics, anthropology and narrative analysis into the Scottish approach to understanding the oral testimonies collected. ⁷

Their conclusion called for something more. They recommend that Scotland needed a national Sound Archive- with the ability to search for resource via subject index. They emphasise that this type of establishment would be to supplement existing organisations like the UK Oral History Society, not to replace them. ⁸

There are of course a number of issues with this type of history. Firstly, in more traditional terms, it seems more vulnerable to becoming lost or distorted. You can change, omit, or even fabricate details with greater ease. An entire culture built on purely oral communication is also in a dangerous position. Those who solely rely on word-of-mouth communication and storytelling can be very vulnerable to eradication and erasure from history. We should not dismiss the power of oral tradition, but having at least some written records or even photographs with notes alongside them will avoid a total devastation of culture.

When it comes to recordings, updating the technology used to capture the interviews or dialogues is crucial. It is easy to forget to transfer files to newer, more updated locations and subsequently lose the data. Furthermore, depending on the type of recording device, the information may later become distorted or impossible to listen to.

Summary

I have shown a few example of how oral history has been, and is still being used, to shed light on more forgotten social aspects of history. Gender, social class, and nationality all are examples of identity which intersect with recording oral testimony. I have also shown that the increasing communication between different academic sectors is vital in improving the quality of research in these situations. Considering that this type of history obviously ties into one’s own genealogy, I hope it is clear how even the more academic or intellectual aspects of this work affect the transmission of ancestral knowledge. Bartie and McIvor’s suggestion for a central database is a particularly important one. Having access to these records for those seeking to understand their own ancestry or that of other groups will come with numerous benefits.

Conclusion

I have one final point to make on this topic which is perhaps a little neglected. While these major identify factors (gender, class, nation, and so on) are all vital to capture, there are many other parts of the human experience which are perhaps not researched enough from a genealogical or historical perspective. It is easy to focus on aspects of ourselves with intersect with political or social movements.

Nevertheless, there are much more intimate parts of family life which genealogists and historians should pay attention to. For instance, where one is born within the order of siblings plays an key role in personal development. Being the oldest, especially the oldest male, throughout history comes with unique burdens. There are many other examples to include as well. The development of local transport, the ownership of pets, or the evolution of postal services perhaps seem at times too parochial to capture, but they can reveal much more regarding the impact of greater social change on an individual level. Oral history is best at illuminating even the smallest stories that shape families and communities forever.

Sources

Ritchie, Donald A. ‘Introduction: The Evolution of Oral History’ in The Oxford Handbook of Oral History, ed. Donald A. Ritchie (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011).

Bartie, Angela. and McIvor, Arthur. ‘Oral History in Scotland’. The Scottish Historical Review 92 (2013): 108-136.