Oral History

Reading oral histories is a great way to get a front seat on historical events.

And students can also be a part of recording history. The process of writing an oral history is:

1. Choose a person to interview.
2. Make a list of interview questions.
3. Record the interview on a cassette tape.
4. Play the tape slowly and type in what is said word for word in a play format, so it is easily understood who said what.
5. Where parts of the interview are unclear, ask interviewee followup questions.
6. Edit oral history, so it is clear and readable.

Writing an oral history can be overwhelming for one person. To make this activity possible for students, you can do the following:

• Have students work in groups
• Limit the number of questions asked and/or the amount of time spent interviewing

This could be a great activity for:

• Black History Month - interview someone who lived through the Civil Rights Movement
• Veteran's Day - interview a veteran of a war
• Local History - interview an individual who lived through important local events
• Career Day - interview someone who was/is important in a particular field
• Biography - interview a person about events in his/her life