Why Oral History Day?

The organization charged with overseeing oral history throughout the U.S.—The Oral History Association—has defined oral history as a method of gathering and preserving first-hand information through recorded interviews with participants in past events and ways of life. People throughout the U.S. have used this historical practice since the days after the Revolutionary War through World War II, including the 19th Century efforts of Lyman Draper at the Wisconsin Historical Society. Since 1945 and with assistance from advancements in technology, specifically the tape recorder, men and women throughout the country have embarked on oral history interviews and projects of every shape and size. In Wisconsin the last sixty years have brought oral history projects at the statewide level, such as at the Wisconsin Historical Society & Wisconsin Veterans Museum, and the campus level, with projects and programs at UW—LaCrosse and Lawrence University, to mention two. There have been myriad projects and interviews done at the local, community, and individual level, too.

In the early 21st Century, doing quality oral history has become as important as ever. In this age people communicate probably more than ever, with assistance from recent technologies, such as cell phones and email. Those same people, however, will communicate in great detail (or in a way that can be preserved) less than ever. Creating a situation where a person’s stories, memories, and opinions and the context around them can be gathered and preserved can help to bridge this resource gap. Oral history does serve as a logical way to build primary-source material for future students, educators, historians, and interested individuals.

For all of these reasons and more, the UW—Madison Oral History Program (OHP) head, Troy Reeves designed Wisconsin Oral History Day (WOHD) to bring together people from around the state and region interested in the practice and methodology of oral history to a single location to learn the steps to conduct quality oral histories, to discuss extent projects, to network regarding future collaboration, and to strengthen the guild of past, present, and future practitioners of oral history.