OHA News

by Doug Boyd When I interviewed Don Ritchie on September 25, 2015, for the Nunn Center’s Interviewing the Interviewers oral history project, we spoke of many things regarding the history of the Oral History Association (https://kentuckyoralhistory.org/catalog/xt712j685w90). Among the many things discussed, Don recalled the debate regarding the OHA transition to the mail ballot for electing […]

By Kristine Navarro-McElhaney, Interim Executive Director  As you know, OHA is in transition and there are many changes on the horizon for the organization, from the editors for the Oral History Review to a new institutional home for our executive offices.  As we move forward, it is important for us to remember that our staff,

By Rachel Seidman, Program Committee Co-Chair  A century ago, Joe Gould, a bohemian from Greenwich Village, began writing down anything that anyone ever said to him, especially in Harlem. Gould, who coined the term “oral history,” founded an oral history association in the 1920s. He wrote an extraordinarily long book called The Oral History of

Because oral historians like to talk as well as listen, the 2017 OHA conference lineup includes plenty of informal gatherings: receptions sponsored by the International Committee and Committee on Diversity; a Presidential Reception at the Mill City Museum, site of a historic flour mill; a Newcomers Breakfast for first-time attendees; and a poster session and

  Oral historians—and would-be oral historians—attending the Oct. 4-8 annual OHA conference in Minneapolis will have a chance to brush up their skills or try something new at workshops scheduled for Wednesday (Oct. 4), Saturday (Oct. 7) and Sunday (Oct. 8). On Wednesday, attendees can learn how to create digital exhibits using oral history or

Three OHA conference sessions will examine the use of oral history in pursuit of social justice. Documenting Activism in the age of #BlackLivesMatter and Standing Rock is based on the premise that the simple act of documentation itself is a form of activism. A panel will examine how the smartphone and social media, which have

Continuing a tradition established in 1994, the Oral History Association recognizes exemplary oral history work with the following awards to be presented at the 2017 conference:   Article Award “Allan Nevins is Not My Grandfather: The Roots of Radical Oral History in the United States” Daniel R. Kerr   Book Award A Two-Spirit Journey: The

This year the International Committee received 14 International Scholarship applications from historians hoping to attend the annual meeting. Awards have been made to: Lorna Barton, Scotland Sophia Isajiw, Canada Hong Jiang, China Riikka Taavetti, Finland Last month we featured abstracts from Lorna Barton, Sophia Isjiw and Hong Jiang. This month we will feature the abstract

OHA welcomes Jill Lepore, the David Woods Kemper ’41 Professor of American History at Harvard University, as the keynote speaker at the 2017 annual meeting. Lepore is also a staff writer at The New Yorker. A prize-winning professor, she teaches classes in evidence, historical methods, humanistic inquiry, and American history. Much of her scholarship explores absences and

This year the International Committee received 14 International Scholarship Applications. Awards have been made to: Lorna Barton, Scotland Sophia Isajiw, Canada Hong Jiang, China Riikka Taavetti, Finland Cheryl Ware, Australia This month we will feature abstracts from Lorna Barton, Sophia Isjiw and Hong Jiang. Next month we will feature abstracts by Riikka Taavetti and Cheryl

Welcome to another edition of OHA Spotlight! This month we are featuring Dr. Harcourt Fuller and his work, which includes a documentary-film and recorded album project, and how oral history was essential to both. Dr. Fuller’s Background: I am an Associate Professor of History in the Department of History at Georgia State University. I hold a PhD

From Alice Lynd’s work We Won’t Go (1968), to their most recent co-authored book Moral Injury and Nonviolent Resistance (2017), the Lynds have revolutionized the field of oral history and have done so while keeping their commitment to social justice at the center of their work.  In the Saturday plenary at the 2017 annual meeting, the Lynds