A DIY guide for social justice oral history projects.

Cliff Mayotte is the education program director with Voice of Witness. He previously edited The Power of the Story: The Voice of Witness Teachers Guide to Oral History.

Claire Kiefer is the author of Bear Witness. She was a Voice of Witness curriculum specialist and currently works at the Georgia Capital Defender.

Introduction: Making the Invisible Visible

Section One: Conducting Community Oral Histories: Approaches, Methodologies, and Ethics

History on a Human Scale

Types of Oral Histories

1. Historical or Cultural Memory Transfer


2. Community or Neighborhood History


3. Addressing Injustice or Seeking Change through Oral History


4. Oral History in Educational Settings

 Essential Questions and Ethics

1. Oral History: An “Experiment in Equality”


2. Why Should I Share My Story with You? Ownership, Identity, and Storytelling


3. How Do I Find Narrators for my Oral History Project?


4. Creating Safe/Brave Spaces for Sharing Stories


5. Protecting Narrator Safety


6. Power, Privilege, and Representation in Oral History


7. Outsider/Insider Dynamics


8. Changing Directions in Oral History Projects


9. Editing Oral History Transcripts: Honoring Your Narrator’s Voice


10. Self Care, Compassion Fatigue, and Developing a Capacity to Listen to Difficult Stories

 Section Two: Community Oral History Case Studies

A Note on the Case Studies

1. Behind the Wire: Mandatory Detention in Australia by Andre Dao and Sienna Merope


2. OG Told Me by Pendarvis Harshaw


3. After the Disaster: Rebuilding Lives and Communities in Fukushima by Jon Funabiki


4. Re-entry Stories: Life after Prison and Jail by Claire Kiefer


5. Unsettled: Relocating After Katrina by Eric Marshall


6. Our Town, Our Stories by Cliff Mayotte


7. Resilience: Elders in East Harlem by Lauren Taylor


8. DREAMers Testimoniando by Shelby Pasell


9. Tales of Tar Sands Resistance by Stephanie G. Thomas


10. Cycles of Domestic Violence by Ashley Jacobs 225


11. Project LRN (Listening to Residents and Neighbors) by Genevra Gallo-Bayiates


12. Long Live The King: Fishing in Santa Cruz Harbor by Katie Kuszmar

 Section Three: Community Storytelling and Oral History Resources

1. Getting Started: A Quick Guide to Setting up Your Oral History Project


2. Media Options for Sharing Stories


3. Oral History Resources


4. Trauma & Self-Care Resources

Acknowledgements

About Voice of Witness

About the Editors/ About the Contributors