Oral History Society

Oral History Society
Name	Oral History Society
Founded	1973
Type	Charity and professional association
Headquarters	United Kingdom
Location	London
Region served	United Kingdom, Ireland, international

Oral History Society

The Oral History Society is a UK-based charity and professional association dedicated to promoting the practice, understanding, and preservation of oral history through practical guidance, advocacy, and publication. It supports practitioners across academic institutions, heritage organisations, community groups, broadcasting bodies and archives by fostering networks, producing training, and setting ethical standards. The Society organises events, publishes journals and handbooks, and leads collaborative projects with museums, universities, broadcasters and archives.

History and formation

The Society was established in 1973 amid growing interest in recording first-hand testimony linked to the work of scholars and practitioners associated with Tavistock Institute, National Life Stories, Mass-Observation and initiatives inspired by oral testimony projects around Columbia University, BBC broadcast archives and the legacy of interviewing practised by figures connected to University of London, Liverpool John Moores University and Manchester Metropolitan University. Early influences included methodologies developed in the aftermath of projects such as the Wartime Memories Project and the expansion of community oral projects tied to local studies units working with institutions like Imperial War Museums and county record offices in Yorkshire, Lancashire, and London. Founding members drew on experience from archives associated with British Library, Royal Anthropological Institute and university departments at Oxford University and Cambridge University.

Mission and activities

The Society’s mission encompasses advocacy for oral testimony linked to preserving cultural heritage, promoting methodological rigour used in projects connected to Wellcome Trust funded oral archives, and fostering collaboration with statutory bodies such as National Archives (UK), Arts Council England, and city museums in Bristol, Liverpool, and Glasgow. Activities include running conferences with partners from Institute of Historical Research, delivering workshops for community groups tied to Heritage Lottery Fund projects, hosting seminars in collaboration with broadcasting bodies like Channel 4 and academic symposia involving scholars from University of Sussex, Queen Mary University of London and University of Edinburgh.

Membership and governance

Members encompass a cross-section of practitioners including historians from King's College London and University of Manchester, oral historians attached to Imperial College London and community archivists working with county archives such as Lancashire Archives and Kent Archives. Governance is by an elected committee and trustees drawn from professionals associated with institutions like British Museum, National Maritime Museum, and university research centres at Goldsmiths, University of London and University of Birmingham. The Society liaises with bodies including National Council for Voluntary Organisations and charitable regulators, and collaborates with academic networks across Europe and institutions such as University of Glasgow and Trinity College Dublin.

Publications and resources

The Society publishes a peer-reviewed journal and a newsletter alongside practical handbooks and guidance used by practitioners linked to projects at BBC Radio 4, British Library Sound Archive, and oral history units at University of Oxford and University of Cambridge. Its resources include model consent forms and cataloguing guidance used by archives such as Sound Archive of Ireland, Scottish Oral History Centre, and municipal archives in Leeds and Birmingham. The Society’s publications reference case studies involving collections from Imperial War Museums, collections related to Hiroshima survivor testimony projects, and community oral collections tied to ethnic minority histories in urban centres like Birmingham, Leicester and Cardiff.

Training, standards, and ethics

The Society issues guidance on ethical practice drawing on frameworks developed alongside organisations such as British Library, National Archives (UK), and legal advisers with expertise in legislation including the Data Protection Act 2018 and frameworks applied by institutions like UK Research Integrity Office. Training programmes and accredited workshops are delivered in partnership with university departments at University of Leeds, University of Sheffield, and professional bodies including Archives and Records Association and museum services in cities such as Newcastle upon Tyne and Norwich. Standards cover consent, access, digital preservation and oral history interview techniques used in large-scale projects like those undertaken by National Life Stories and community heritage initiatives funded by Heritage Lottery Fund.

Projects and collaborations

The Society has led and contributed to collaborative projects with partners including British Library, Imperial War Museums, BBC, University of Portsmouth, University of Exeter and heritage bodies funded by Arts Council England and Heritage Lottery Fund. Projects have documented themes ranging from industrial change in regions such as South Wales and Clydeside to migration narratives linked to archives in Bristol and oral testimony documenting health and medicine held in repositories associated with Wellcome Collection and university medical schools at University College London and King's College London. International collaborations include exchanges with oral history networks at Columbia University, Smithsonian Institution, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and academic centres in Canada, Australia and across Europe.

Category:History organizations in the United Kingdom Category:Oral history