Preserving the Past with Oral History

What is an oral history interview? What goes into the planning and what should be said? Why is it important that we know and learn from oral history? This is an excellent learning exercise to support your young historians as they conduct...

Begin this powerful study on the Guatemalan genocide with a nine-minute video clip, which can be easily found online. The excerpt introduces the class to this tragedy through a personal account, which is what they will be collecting....

What is oral tradition, and what unique tool did the Native Americans of the Northern Great Plains use to help them remember their complex histories? Through pictograph analysis, discussion, research, and an engaging hands-on activity,...

Scholars learn about September 11th, the day the World Trade Center was attacked, with the help of primary sources. As pupils listen to a first-hand account from survivor, Tom Canavan, they pinpoint character traits that make him a hero...

Use oral history as a way to help learners develop communication skills. They interview a trusted adult about their life as a young person, challenges they overcame, and what they are proud of. Learners are then interviewed themselves in...

Bring U.S. history to your language arts class with this lesson. Middle schoolers complete an interview for an oral history project, and discuss the importance of oral histories - and how they embellish written accounts. They write...

Oral history has brought a multitude of lessons, stories, and factoids to our current knowledge of the past. Let us continue to use oral history traditions through a lesson that encourages pupils to discover and appreciate where they...

Imagine what it was like to grow up as a young black woman in the Chapel Hill, North Carolina in the 1920s. Class members have an opportunity to see life from this perspective as they listen to a series of interviews with Rebecca Clark....

Have learners assess current farming techniques in their area with this valuable resource. They consider the impact of their local ecosystem, and research how Native American tribes used the land in the past. They go on Internet...

Students consider the insight to the past that oral histories can provide. They, in groups, analyze oral histories, prepare to interview a family member on their recollections of a historical event and then write a historical narrative.