1990-1999 (N-Z) - Oral History - guide to resources - Oxford LibGuides at Oxford University

Timespan

1990-1999 (N-Z)

Newly bookmarked websites

This box links to the Bodleian History Faculty Library's Diigo account, which bookmarks websites relevant to the study of History.

National Life Stories

National Life Stories
Extensive summaries of a number of oral history interviews from the British Library Sound Archive’s ‘Leaders of National Life’ Collection are available through their online catalogue (catalogue reference number: C408) The collection covers politics, industry, the arts, sports, religion, the professions, administration and communications. The audio recordings of these interviews, along with many more items from the British Library’s National Life Stories collections, are available to listen to in full at the British Library, St Pancras.

Topics: Arts & Culture; Politics & Government; Work

Keywords: industry; politics; religion; sports

Oral History of British Science

Oral history of Science and Technology
As part of their National Life Stories programme, the British Library conducted 200 in-depth life story interviews with contemporary British scientists, engineers and technologists. The interviews are accessible on-site at the British Library and are increasingly being made available online. It is currently possible to listen to over 60 of the interviews via the British Library Sounds website. As well as being listed alphabetically by name, the interviews are also divided by subject.

Topics: Science & Medicine

Keywords: engineering; environment; medicine; science; technology

Oral history of jazz in Britain

Oral history of Jazz
The complete recordings of 107 oral history interviews with individuals involved in the UK jazz scene are available to listen to through British Library Sounds. The online recordings are only accessible to Higher and Further Education institutions.

Topics: Arts & Culture

Keywords: music

An Oral History of the Science Museum Group, 1973-2000

An Oral History of the Science Museum Group, 1973-2000
In 2012 a series of oral history interviews were conducted with staff members who worked for the Science Museum Group during the period 1973-2000. This was a period of important institutional change for the Museum, encompassing the tenures of two very different Directors: Dame Margaret Weston (1973-1986) and Sir Neil Cossons (1986-2000). Video extracts of these interviews are available online.

Topics: Arts & Culture; Science & Medicine

Keywords: museum

The Peace Process: Layers of Meaning

The Peace Process: Layers of Meaning
The aim of this ongoing oral history project is to collect 100 interviews recording the memories and views of key figures in the Irish peace process since the 1960s. The decision was taken to embargo these interviews for up to 40 years in order to encourage frankness. A number of edited interviews with representatives from the women’s movement and education are, however, shortly to be made available through the website. The project website also provides an extensive list of links to previously conducted interviews regarding the peace process, which are now available online, under the Layers of Meaning Online Directory section.

Topics: Politics & Government; War & Conflict

Keywords: art; community; education; politics; sport; union; women

Personal Histories of the Second Wave of Feminism

Personal Histories of the Second Wave of Feminism
In 2000-2003, the Feminist Archive South conducted a large oral history project that collected the personal memories of women who were involved in the Women’s Liberation Movement in Bristol. Visit this blog to find out more about the project and download excerpts and summaries from the interviews.

Topics: People; Politics & Government

Keywords: feminism; politics; women

Plunging into History: Stories from Ironmonger Row Baths and Beyond

Plunging into History: Stories from Ironmonger Row Baths and Beyond [archived on the Wayback Machine]
This project, produced by Rowan Arts and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Islington Council, used oral history to explore the social and cultural importance of Ironmonger Row Baths and its surrounding area in south Islington. The project website, produced in 2012, provides online access to 65 short audio and transcribed extracts from the interviews.

Topics: Arts & Culture; People

Keywords: community; leisure; sport

Pulling the Plug?: An Oral History of Spa Practices and Experiences at the Royal Pump Rooms

Pulling the Plug?: An Oral History of Spa Practices and Experiences at the Royal Pump Rooms
This oral history project, undertaken by the University of Warwick in association with Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum (LASGM), investigated the changing practice and experience of spa therapy during the second half of the twentieth century. 21 written extracts, from interviews conducted with former staff, patients, and medical practitioners of the Royal Pump Rooms in Leamington Spa are currently available online. There are plans to make the entire interview transcripts accessible in the near future.

Topics: Science & Medicine; Work

Keywords: healthcare; leisure

Recollection: an Oral History of Kettle's Yard

Recollection: an Oral History of Kettle's Yard
This oral history project, conducted from 2008 to 2010, interviewed 42 individuals about their memories of Kettle’s Yard over its 50 year history, from its time as the private home of art collector Jim Ede and his wife Helen, to its present status as a University of Cambridge collection and temporary exhibition space. Audio and transcript extracts from the interviews are available online and are keyword searchable. To access the complete interviews, consisting of over 100 hours of audio, contact Kettle’s Yard Education Officer.

Topics: Arts & Culture

Keywords: art; art_history; music

Sea Your History

Sea Your History
This website was created by The Royal Naval Museum in Portsmouth along with a number of supporting partners. It makes accessible online a number of audio extracts from oral history interviews with those who have lived and worked with the sea in the twentieth century. The audio extracts have been divided into five key themes: Women at Sea; Diving into the Past (about the effort to find, excavate and raise the Mary Rose); Naval Medicine; People and Changing Technology; and Family Matters.

Topics: Science & Medicine; War & Conflict; Work

Keywords: family; medicine; Navy; technology; women

Sellafield Oral History Project

Sellafield Oral History Project
This project tells the history of Sellafield in West Cumbria by means of oral history interviews with 100 people about their personal experiences of the site. Interviewees include current and retired employees, as well as local residents and opponents. Short audio extracts and complete interview transcripts are accessible online, although it is first necessary to register for a login password. The transcripts are also searchable by concept/topic. The complete recordings are available to listen to at the Cumbria Archive and Local Studies Centre, Whitehaven.

Topics: Science & Medicine; Work

Keywords: community; industry; politics

Somerset Voices Oral History Archive

Somerset Voices Oral History Archive
This archive consists of over 500 recordings of Somerset Life made since the 1970s by local historian Ann Heeley and a variety of other individuals and local history groups. A short audio clip from each recording is available to download from the website. The complete recordings are available to listen to at the Somerset Heritage Centre in Taunton or the Somerset Rural Life Museum, Glastonbury.

Topics: Anthropology & Folklore; People; Work

Keywords: agriculture; community; WWI; WWII

Songs of Steel

Songs of Steel [archived on UK Web Archive]
[web archived] The Songs of Steel Community Oral History Project interviewed people in Rotherham who worked within the steel industry. Audio and transcribed extracts for the interviews are accessible online, as are a number of poems and songs produced as part of the project. The complete 30 oral history interviews can be listened to by appointment at the Archives and Local Studies Service, located on the first floor of Rotherham Central Library.

Topics: Work

Keywords: industry; WWII

Sport

Sport
The complete audio recordings of 61 oral history interviews with twentieth-century British sportsmen and women are available for anyone to listen to online through British Library Sounds. The collection includes interviews with tennis players, swimmers, and athletes, as well as with individuals involved in the coaching and teaching of sport.

Topics: Arts & Culture

Keywords: sport

Strand Lines Oral History and Life Writing Project

Strand Lines Oral History and Life Writing Project
This was part of a broader project to create a digital archive of experiences, memories and reflections about one of London’s most famous streets, the Strand. For the oral history strand of this project students and staff in the English Department at King’s College London conducted interviews with Strand workers and residents. They then turned these interviews into life writing. Some examples of their efforts, which include audio recordings from the interviews, are available on the Strandlines digital community website.

Topics: Education; People; Work

Keywords: community

Swanshurst School History Channel

Swanshurst School History Channel
This is a school run project which began from a desire to record the experiences of individuals who attended the school’s Veterans’ Day in 2008. The complete video recordings of 43 oral history interviews are now available to watch online. The interviews are divided into two sections. The first section is on ‘The Second World War 1939-45’ and includes interviews with members of the fighting forces, with individuals employed as Land Girls, Bevin Boys and in the ATS, and also with individuals who experienced the war in Germany or were affected by the Holocaust. The second section of interviews on ‘Britain and the world 1945-’ covers a wide variety of subjects including the Korean War, sport, science and political involvement.

Topics: People; Politics & Government; Science & Medicine; War & Conflict; Work

Keywords: Holocaust; migration; mining; military_history; refugees; sport; WWII

Tales of Welsh Tradition Bearers

Tales of Welsh Tradition Bearers
The sound archive at St Fagans holds recordings of a wide range of folk narratives as told by oral storytellers in Wales during the second half of the twentieth century. Stories from nine of these storytellers have been made available to listen to online. The entry for each story includes the sound recording of the tale, the text of the narrative, an English translation and background notes. In order to appreciate the international context of the narratives, references have also been made, where appropriate, to types and motifs.

Topics: Anthropology & Folklore

Keywords: folktales; stories; Welsh

Through the Generations: Collecting and archiving stories, memories and experiences of Sri Lankan Tamils in London

Through the Generations: Collecting and archiving stories, memories and experiences of Sri Lankan Tamils in London
This one-year project conducted in 2012 worked closely with the Tamil Community Centre in Hounslow to record the memories of Sri Lankan Tamils living in London, particularly those with links to West London and the Hounslow area. 15 life story interviews, along with 30 shorter interviews were collected as part of the project. Edited videos of 13 of the interviews are available to view online and transcribed extracts from all the interviews can be read online or in a downloadable book created as part of the project. The interview extracts are arranged under seven key themes: Early Life in Sri Lanka, Layers of Belonging, Politics & the Nation-State, Troubles, Leaving & Arrival, Transitions, and Home.

Topics: People

Keywords: community; migration

Tobar an Dualchais / Kist o Riches

Tobar an Dualchais / Kist o Riches: The Sound of Scotland's Traditions
This website is the result of a collaborative project to preserve, digitise, catalogue and make available online thousands of Gaelic and Scots recordings held by the School of Scottish Studies (University of Edinburgh), BBC Scotland and the National Trust for Scotland. Over 30,000 oral recordings of stories, songs, music, poetry, history, traditions and other information are available to listen to online. It is possible to search the recordings by keyword or browse them by Scottish county.

Topics: Anthropology & Folklore; People

Keywords: folktales; Gaelic; music; poetry; songs; stories

Tocher

Tocher
Tocher (meaning a dowry in Scots) provides online access to some of the School of Scottish Studies’ collections of oral tradition. The site provides access to transcriptions rather than audio recordings. These are divided into categories according to type, including Features, Culture and Customs, Beliefs and Superstitions, Legends and Folktales, Tales (non-fiction), and songs.

Topics: Anthropology & Folklore

Keywords: childhood; community; folktales; songs; stories; work

Treatmentshomosexuality

Treatmentshomosexuality [from UK Web Archive]
This website, initiated by a Wellcome Trust funded research project, has collected together a number of oral histories from lesbian, gay and bisexual people who have undergone therapy in an attempt to make them heterosexual. Interviews with professionals who developed and conducted such treatments have also been collected. 26 of the most revealing narratives that arose from the research are available to read online through the Narratives section of the website (16 are from patients and 10 from professionals). It is also possible to read and listen to views about such treatments on the Interviews page.

Topics: People; Science & Medicine

Keywords: homosexuality; medicine; sexuality

UK Data Service

UK Data Service
The UK Data Service provides online access to a wide range of qualitative data sets, including oral history resources. The collections are searchable by keyword. Researchers must register with the UK Data Service and state their intended purpose for any data accessed.

Topics: Education; People; Politics & Government; War & Conflict; Work

Keywords: portal

University of Aberdeen Oral History Archive

University of Aberdeen Oral History Archive
The Aberdeen University Oral History Archive was initially created in 1985 to help historians writing monographs to commemorate the University’s Quincentenary in 1995. Interviewing has continued ever since and over 200 interviews have now been collected with past students, long serving members of staff, and eminent individuals connected with the University. Access to the complete set of recordings is available at the University, but many of the interview transcripts are also accessible online through the University’s archival catalogue.

Topics: Education

Keywords: education; law; music; medicine; students; university; WWI; WWII

University of York Oral History Project

University of York Oral History Project
To mark the fiftieth anniversary of its foundation in 1963, the University of York has begun recording the recollections of alumni, current staff members, and those involved in the creation of the University. The interview recordings are archived at the Borthwick Institute for Archives and are available to listen to online through York Digital Library.

Topics: Education

Keywords: architecture; students; university

Up and Under: The Rugby League Oral History Project

Up and Under: The Rugby League Oral History Project
This project, funded by the University of Huddersfield, has recorded oral reminiscences relating to the Rugby League community in West Yorkshire. Audio extracts from 26 interviews with players, officials and spectators of Rugby League are available to listen to online. The website also makes accessible online a number of oral history interviews conducted as part of the ‘Black and Minority Ethnic Involvement in Rugby League Project’. This project saw pupils at the Huddersfield Giant Study Centre interview Huddersfield Giants players and staff from black and minority ethnic backgrounds about their lives and rugby league careers.

Topics: Arts & Culture; People

Keywords: rugby; sport

VMR: Voices of Migration and Return

VMR: Voices of Migration and Return
This resource provides online access to audio recordings from 87 life narrative oral history interviews with migrants and returnees from Ulster. The interviews were gathered during the course of two recent academic studies into migration: ‘Narratives of Migration and Return’, conducted from 2004 to 2006, and a follow on study ‘Northern Ireland Emigrant Narratives’ conducted from 2006 to 2008. The emphasis of the collection is on migration that took place during the 1970s, as this was the decade Ulster experienced its highest emigration rate, but migration from the 1930s through to the 1980s is also covered. The interviews are fully keyword searchable or browsable by interviewee gender, age group, religious denomination, birthplace, childhood residence, current residence, emigration destination, decade of emigration or decade of return.

Topics: People

Keywords: migration

Voices in the Visual Arts (VIVA)

Voices in the Visual Arts (VIVA) [archived on the Wayback Machine]
The VIVA oral history project, launched in 2004 by Camberwell College of Arts, has conducted life history and thematic interviews with fine artists, designers, craftspeople, curators, and individuals who attended art college but pursued other career paths. The website also hosts the collections of the Design History Society oral history project begun in 2007, which interviewed key figures in the emergence of design history as a discipline during the 1970s. The project is ongoing, but the audio recordings of 7 VIVA interviews and 8 Design History Society interviews are available to listen to online.

Topics: Arts & Culture; Education

Keywords: art; design; education; students

Voices of Agriculture

Voices of Agriculture [archived on the Wayback Machine]
This project has been interviewing individuals in Camarthenshire since 2003 about the social and economic changes and influences that have affected agriculture and rural society in Wales since 1947. Short recorded extracts of five interviews conducted in English and three conducted in Welsh are currently available to listen to online and the complete audio recordings will be archived at the Museum of Welsh Life, St. Fagan’s, and in the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth.

Topics: People; Work

Keywords: agriculture; community; Welsh

Wild Rose Heritage and Arts

Wild Rose Heritage and Arts
The Wild Rose Heritage and Arts community group, based in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, first began by interviewing elderly residents about their experiences growing up in the local valleys. Since then the project has expanded and oral history interviews have been conducted with residents of all ages to explore how people are changed by the places in which they live and work. The complete audio recordings and transcripts of approximately 130 interviews are currently available to access through the site.

Topics: People; Work

Keywords: agriculture; childhood; community; WWII

Winning Equal Pay: the value of women's work

Winning Equal Pay: the value of women's work
The TUC has produced a series of films containing oral history interviews with women and union representatives involved in major cases in the fight for equal pay since 1968. They are available to watch online through this website.

Topics: People; Politics & Government; Work

Keywords: union; women

World Bank Group Archives’ Oral History Program

World Bank Group Archives’ Oral History Program: The interviews recorded by the World Bank Group Archives’ Oral History Program present a powerful picture of the World Bank Group from its post-Bretton Woods beginnings to the present day. Its history, its evolution, and its staff are all vividly portrayed in these transcripts. The program, which began in 1960, was restarted in 1981, and has continued from 1990 to the present day, in four distinct phases. These Bank oral history interviews are supplemented by interviews conducted for three separate projects: a history of Bank President George Woods; the 50th anniversary history of the Bank; and a history of the Staff Association. Some persons were interviewed for more than one project.

These interview transcripts serve as learning and knowledge tools for Bank staff, its partners, clients and researchers who are interested in learning more about the Bank’s development practices and policies.

Working Lives: Memories of work and industry in Nuneaton and Bedworth

Working Lives: Memories of work and industry in Nuneaton and Bedworth
This project recorded the memories of individuals involved in work and industry in the area of Nuneaton and Bedworth during the 20th century. The audio files, and summaries or written transcripts, of over 25 interviews are available to access online. It is possible to search the interviews by keyword.

Topics: Work

Keywords: engineering, industry; mining; union; WWII

YouTube

YouTube
YouTube provides access to a large quantity of resources, both oral history interviews and information videos on the conduct and practice of oral history. Some organisations, archives and oral history projects have their own YouTube channels.

Topics: Anthropology & Folklore; Arts & Culture; Education; People; Politics & Government; Science & Medicine; War & Conflict; Work

Keywords: portal

Oral History - guide to resources: 1990-1999 (N-Z)