Go Back In Time With Oral History

It’s almost summer, so there will be gatherings of family and friends coming soon. With luck you’ll be with friends you know and perhaps some older family members, too. If, like me, you’re getting to be among the older family members present, feel free to initiate storytelling rather than waiting for someone else to ask. Some people will roll their eyes, but that’s okay.

Oral history is just the fancy academic name, of course. It’s pretty much the same thing as talking to older people. Formal oral history has rules and procedures and documentation and lots of other good things, but we can practice the essentials any time and any place. The more you can remember, record, or preserve, the better, of course.