‘Recording our oral history is a vital part of documenting, understanding and sharing the heritage of ordinary people’ Rob Perks, Lead Curator of Oral History at the British Library and Secretary/Editor of the Oral History Society.
Interviews archived, paperwork and consent forms filed safely away, it’s time to reflect on the place of oral history in the context of other historical research. As Herefordshire Life Through a Lens has demonstrated through its dozens of interviews across the life of the project, we all have stories to tell, and oral history listens to these stories and records those stories, giving them their rightful place on the ‘history shelf’. It’s taken a bit of time, but historians have finally recognized that the everyday memories of everyday people, not just the rich, the powerful, or the famous, have historical importance. If we do not collect and preserve those memories, those stories, then one day they will disappear forever. Nearly three years in, some of our early interviewees have passed away, at a great age, but their stories captured on film, live on, creating a vital resource for the researchers of tomorrow.
Oral history can complement information provided by public records, statistical data, photographs, maps, letters, diaries, and other historical materials. Eyewitnesses to events, no matter how small or innocuous, contribute various viewpoints and perspectives that fill in the gaps in documented history. It is a way of gathering, recording, and preserving a diverse range of personal experiences that generally are not well documented in written sources or traditional history in Western society. Their personal nature makes them a great primary source for people wanting to discover more about a certain event or era, providing an insight into the impact events had on the people alive and involved.
Herefordshire Life Through a Lens has been framed by the photographic archive of Derek Evans. Using oral history has helped to deepen an understanding of his images, giving that all important context: the photograph gives representation and the oral history interviews have allowed, by and large, individuals to look at the photos and say, ‘that’s what my life was like then,’ giving further detail and description in the process. It’s invaluable, and democratizing too, and we should celebrate it.
Written/documentary history will present a version of an event largely based on documents which are based, perhaps, on the voices of people who had more power, who were able to articulate and describe, ‘what it was like for them’. Oral histories give people, sometimes those with less power, the opportunity to say, ‘this is what it was like for me’, and we are far richer for it and the historical record benefits from it.