Introduction to Community Oral History
COMMUNITY ORAL HISTORY TOOLKIT
Nancy MacKay Mary Kay Quinlan Barbara W. Sommer
This five-volume boxed set is the definitive guide to all aspects of successfully conducting community projects that conform to best practices in the field of oral history. What are the fundamental principles that make one oral history project fly and another falter? The existing oral history methodology literature has traditionally focused on conducting academic research. In contrast, the Toolkit is specifically geared toward helping people develop and implement oral history projects in schools, service agencies, historical societies, community centers, churches, and other community settings. The five concise volumes, authored by leaders in the oral history field, offer down-to-earth advice on every step of the project, provide numerous examples of successful projects, and include forms that you can adapt to your specific needs. Together, these volumes are your consultant in a box, offering the tools you need to successfully launch and complete your community oral history project.
Volume 1: Introduction to Community Oral History, by Mary Kay Quinlan with Nancy MacKay and Barbara W. Sommer
Volume 2: Planning a Community Oral History Project, by Barbara W. Sommer with Nancy MacKay and Mary Kay Quinlan
Volume 3: Managing a Community Oral History Project, by Barbara W. Sommer with Nancy MacKay and Mary Kay Quinlan
Volume 4: Interviewing in Community Oral History, by Mary Kay Quinlan with Nancy MacKay and Barbara W. Sommer
Volume 5: After the Interview in Community Oral History, by Nancy MacKay with Mary Kay Quinlan and Barbara W. Sommer
For additional information on this series, visit www.LCoastPress.com.
Community oral History Toolkit
NANCY MACKAY MARY KAY QUINLAN BARBARA W. SOMMER
VOLUME 1
Introduction to Community Oral History
Mary Kay Quinlan
withNancy Mackay
andBarbara W. sommer
First published 2013 by Left Coast Press, Inc.
Published 2016 by Routledge
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
MacKay, Nancy, 1945-
Community oral history toolkit / Nancy MacKay, Mary Kay Quinlan, and Barbara W. Sommer
5 v. ; cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents: v. 1. Introduction to community oral history / by Mary Kay Quinlan with Nancy MacKay and Barbara W. Sommer -- v. 2. Planning a community oral history project / by Barbara W. Sommer, with Nancy MacKay and Mary Kay Quinlan -- v. 3. Managing a community oral history project / by Barbara W. Sommer with Nancy MacKay and Mary Kay Quinlan -- v. 4. Interviewing in community oral history / by Mary Kay Quinlan with Nancy MacKay and Barbara W. Sommer -- v. 5. After the interview in community oral history / by Nancy MacKay with Mary Kay Quinlan and Barbara W. Sommer.
ISBN 978-1-59874-408-8 (complete set - pbk. : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-61132-688-8 (complete set - consumer ebook) -- ISBN 978-1-61132-241-5 (volume 1 - pbk. : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-61132-689-5 (volume 1 - consumer ebook) -- ISBN 978-161132-244-6 (volume 2 - pbk. : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-61132-690-1 (volume 2 - consumer ebook) -- ISBN 978-1-61132-247-7 (volume 3 - pbk. : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-61132-691-8 (volume 3 - consumer ebook) -- ISBN 978-1-61132-250-7 (volume-4 - pbk. : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-61132-692-5 (volume 4 - consumer ebook) -- ISBN 978-1-61132-253-8 (volume 5 - pbk. : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-61132-693-2 (volume 5 - consumer ebook)
1. Oral history--Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Oral history--Methodology. 3. Interviewing--Handbooks, manuals, etc. 4. Local history--Methodology. I. Quinlan, Mary Kay. II. Sommer, Barbara W. III. Title.
D16.14.M22 2012
907.2--dc23
2012026513
ISBN 13: 978-1-61132-241-5 paperback
What do you get when you combine three people in California, Minnesota, and Nebraska who have three different perspectives on oral history with a creative publisher and a really smart editor? You get this Community Oral History Toolkit. In these five volumes, we three coauthors, Barbara W. Sommer, Nancy MacKay, and myself, Mary Kay Quinlan, have pooled oral history expertise derived from our experiences as a public historian (Barbara), librarian (Nancy), and journalist (Mary Kay) and our passion for working with communities to create a set of handbooks for community oral historians to use in documenting and telling their communities stories.
We have learned from some great teachers: the people who drew us into oral history in the first place; the oral historians we have met through our involvement with the Oral History Association, which is the national organization of oral history practitioners; the community oral historians weve worked with over the years; and those who graciously answered our questions and provided insights as we conducted research for these volumes. And weve learned a great deal from each other.
We started with the premise born of experience that many communities of all sorts want to use oral history techniques to document their history and explore their stories, but they often lack access to the oral history expertise that may reside in college and university libraries, history departments, and academic oral history centers. Sometimes community groups can tap into that expertise and infrastructure; other times they muddle along on their own, wanting to do the right thing to document and preserve their communities histories but stumped to know just how to go about it.
Having worked with dozens of community groups of all sizes for many decades, we have attempted in these five volumes to distill the major lessons we have learned about how community oral historians can successfully navigate the oral history process of defining goals, making plans, doing research, conducting interviews, and assuring that those oral history interviews will be preserved for years to come. Its a process characterized by hard work and rich rewardsjust as writing this
