“This required working with the Japanese American community and essentially rebuilding trust between the community and the very government agencies that betrayed them 40 years earlier. The community-government partnership that prevailed really underpinned the success of the redress program and the spirit of justice held by all of those involved.” Read full story about this project here.
Blog
US World War II Veterans Project
“The 2016 graduate of Agoura High School, which is north of Los Angeles, has been on the road since December 2016 interviewing World War II combat veterans across the United States, as well as in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. He has done interviews in 46 states, and the only two states he has not visited are Alaska and Arkansas. Rishi Sharma, a first-generation American born to parents who emigrated from India in the 1980s, has interviewed more than 1,100 veterans so far and has no plans to stop. His project, which he calls “Heroes of the Second World War,” actually began in high school.” Read full story here.
Example of COVID Project
“Voices of Princeton is a collaborative oral history project between the Princeton Public Library, the Historical Society of Princeton, the Arts Council of Princeton, and the Witherspoon-Jackson Historical and Cultural Society. The goal of the project is to collect, share, and archive stories and memories of Princetonians. This project aims to collect stories of Princeton residents in order to capture and preserve a contemporary moment in Princeton’s history and also record residents’ recollections and experiences of previous periods in Princeton’s history.” See the links on left of page to find out more. Then see here for COVID “interview” information.
Oral History Resources
Here’s some resources for your oral history work. We’ve seen some before but here they’re together.
Bearing witness to COVID
“Someday, future historians will read the detailed stories of 22 UC Santa Cruz community members who lived through the COVID-19 pandemic.
There will be tales of sudden changes to best-laid plans, each of them containing the words “and then COVID happened.” Read more with link to an e-Book here.
Sydney WorldPride 2023
“The NSW State Library has commenced planning for a major exhibition to tie into Sydney WorldPride 2023, tentatively titled Pride 2023.
Drawing from the library’s little-known collections of posters, photographs, personal papers, oral history and ephemera, it pays tribute to the people and events that drove profound social change.” Read more here.
Irish Life & Lore
“Over 4,000 oral history recordings have been compiled in Ireland by Maurice O’Keeffe of www.irishlifeandlore.com since 1995. Maurice and Jane O’Keeffe of Tralee, Co. Kerry set up Irish Life and Lore, an educational and commercial organisation, to record and archive oral history in Ireland. Now it’s time to share some of the best recordings with you, and allow you to listen to first hand accounts of pivotal moments in Ireland’s national and social history. The generations which went before us could never have imagined the immense change which has come about in the way we live over the past century in Ireland. The Irish Life and Lore podcasts offer the listener an opportunity to hear the voices of eye witnesses to this change, in all their individuality and authenticity, and in their manner of speaking unique to their local area.We hope you enjoy listening!” See more here and hear.
40th Anniversary of Canberra’s High Court
“Opened on May 26 in 1980 by the Queen, the $46.5 million High Court of Australia made Canberra its home and is only one of nine across the country listed on the World Register of Significant 20th Century Architecture. On Wednesday, it will mark the anniversary with the launch of an oral history to accompany the celebrations after the pandemic postponed the momentous occasion last year. Read more here.
Japanese-American Soldiers in World War II
“This video archive is a collaborative project between the University of Southern California Library and the Go For Broke National Education Center in the US, which seeks to share knowledge about the experiences of American World War II veterans of Japanese ancestry.” Read more here with link to the video collection.
Palliative Care Interviews
“It is a pretty universal question: how will the world remember us when we are gone? For terminally ill patients, the question may be more urgent than for most. In Canberra, people in palliative care have the chance to — literally — write their own legacy, through a project called Life Stories. The program is the brainchild of Palliative Care ACT, which enlists a team of volunteers to record the reflections of people with life-threatening medical conditions.” Read more here. Palliative Care ACT CEO Tracy Gillard has confirmed the recordings are given to the interviewee and/or their family, as well as the book.