Research Guides: Oral History Collaborations and Project Resources: Community Oral History Projects &amp; Partners

Community Based Oral History Projects

Are you interested in using oral history to document an aspect of local history and culture? We offer support for community oral history projects. We are available for consultations, to give oral history workshops tailored to specific needs, or to collaborate on an oral history project where it complements our collection goals.

Examples of Community Oral History Projects

Cultivating Common Ground
For the Cultivating Common Ground project, middle and high school youth from the Wilmore neighborhood in Charlotte, NC interviewed the senior citizens who work in their neighborhood's community garden. The teens documented the seniors' life stories and their interest in gardening on video and audio and also through photography. Additional materials available in J. Murrey Atkins Library at UNC Charlotte include a book, a student-produced video and promotional material. The project was funded by a grant from the Community Cultural Connections Program of the Arts & Science Council, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Inc. and the Grassroots Grant Program of the North Carolina Arts Council. Additional support came from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Enterprise Foundation, the Junior League of Charlotte, Wing Haven Gardens and private donors. June Blotnick was the director of the project.

Catawba Lands Conservancy Perspectives on Land Project
Perspectives on Land was a pioneering initiative that aimed to document the human face of land conservation issues in the Catawba River basin. It was sponsored by the Catawba Lands Conservancy and the LandTrust for Central North Carolina. The interviews explore what land means to people in North Carolina's Southern Piedmont, how their identities were shaped by the places they live, and how they hope their landscape will look in the future. The Perspectives On Land team worked with residents of four rural communities to document their relationships to land through interviews and photography. The project was designed in particular to include more diverse segments of the local population in discussions of land protection. Gabriel Cumming was the project director.

Oral History Resources for Community Partners

Community Oral History Toolkit by Nancy MacKay; Mary Kay Quinlan; Barbara W. Sommer
ISBN: 1598744089
Publication Date: 2013-03-15
Doing Oral History by Donald A. Ritchie
ISBN: 0199329338
Publication Date: 2014-10-17

Oral History in the Digital Age
Oral History in the Digital Age (OHDA) is a product of an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) National Leadership project and a collaboration among the Michigan State University Museum; Michigan State University Digital Humanities Center, Matrix; the American Folklife Center (AFC/LOC), the Library of Congress; the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (CFCH); the American Folklore Society (AFS); the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries; and the Oral History Association. For more information on the development and organization of the project. Contains a wealth of information about starting OH projects and proper equipment.
Smithsonian Folklife and Oral History Interview Guide:
An oral history interviewing created by the Folklife sector of the Smithsonian Museum. Includes sample interview questions and forms.
Oral History In the Liberal Arts (OHLA)
OHLA is an undergraduate research framework for community-engaged teaching and learning using oral history & digital scholarship. OHLA supports digital projects across the Great Lakes Colleges Association and Global Liberal Arts Alliance, curates tutorials and pedagogical resources, and offers trainings at Antioch College.
General Resources for Oral History
For planning and implementing an oral history project see also the general resources section of this guide.

Forms for Oral History Projects

The consent and release form:

Informs interviewees/narrators about the oral history process and how their oral history recording will be used
Obtains permission from interviewees/narrators to share their interview with the public
Establishes copyright ownership of the interview

Without the consent and release form oral history interviews have limited value and cannot be archived.

Interviewee/narrator biographical form:

The biographical form:

Establishes accurate information about an interviewee/narrator
Helps the interviewer become familiar with the interviewee/narrator before the interview
Assists with cataloging interviews that are archived

Sample Consent and Release Form
This is a sample Consent and Release Form using Creative Commons 4.0 for copyright sharing purposes.
Sample Oral History Biographical Form
The oral history biographical form is usually filled out by the interviewee ahead of an interview. It is used to ensure that the interviewee/ narrator is accurately represented and to assist the interviewer in designing suitable interview questions.

Creating Forms:

For creating forms we suggest that you consult the following book:

A Guide to Oral History and the Law by John A. Neuenschwander
ISBN: 0190209879
Publication Date: 2014-10-14

Form for Collaborative Oral History Projects

Atkins Library Oral History Collaboration Request Form
If you are interested in collaborating with Atkins Special Collections on an oral history project please complete this form with as much detail as possible. We will get back to you within 1-2 weeks. For more information about our previous oral history projects, please have a look at our online repository, Goldmine (goldmine.charlotte.edu)