ORAL HISTORY IN MUSEUMS: ADVANTAGES AND CHALLENGES

Musings Abroad | Chloé Houde

---

Have you ever been to a museum exhibition that featured oral histories? How were they presented?  Did you pause to listen to or read them? Did you find them compelling?

Oral history and storytelling have been present in museums for several decades, and are utilized around the world as a way to collect and share personal and life stories of individuals and communities. However, oral history is an interdisciplinary field in its own right, and I wanted to outline the basics of oral history and its uses in museums. Not only is oral history in itself a valuable methodology for museums, but the concepts and values at the core of oral history are applicable to other museum practices, especially now that museums are increasingly focusing on fostering and maintaining relationships with different communities. Indeed, oral history is a democratizing practice that aims to share authority between researchers and participants. It can be used to bridge gaps between communities and museums, give space to historically-silenced voices, and integrate people’s stories in exhibitions and collections. This kind of practice, when done correctly, opens up museums to various audiences in meaningful ways that can have lasting impacts.

The Museu da Pessoa in Brazil is a "virtual and collaborative museum of life stories" | Source

Histories and traditions have been transmitted orally for most of human history, but the field was formalized and institutionalized between the 1940s and 1970s. The Oral History Association in the United States was founded in 1967, the Oral History Society in the United Kingdom was formed in 1973, and the Canadian Oral History Association was started in 1974. Nowadays, organizations worldwide, such as universities, archives, museums, libraries, arts and heritage organizations, and associations, do significant oral history work.

Oral history, at its basis, is about recording the memories and lived experiences of individuals through verbal shared exchanges, most often through interviews. Oral history has been used for research, community-building, historical preservation, truth and reconciliation, storytelling, and many more purposes. This allows historical accounts from ordinary people to enter official historical narratives (a form of “history from the bottom up”) and challenge dominant narratives, which is why oral history is well-suited to uplifting the stories of peoples and communities who have been marginalized and oppressed. Oral history is not about learning facts from personal stories; it’s about valuing memory, personal narratives, emotions, and lived experiences, and about dispelling the myth that written accounts are more important than oral accounts.

The Museum of London holds a large oral history collection | Source

Oral history is not only about making history accessible to the public, but involving the public in its creation and diffusion. One of the main tenets of oral history is the concept of sharing authority. Involving interview partners and developing projects alongside them in a process of collaboration is a commitment to moving away from learning about certain groups, to “knowing with” them. It’s important to remember that people are the experts of their own stories, and different kinds of expertise come together in oral history projects.

Active listening is also part of the process of oral history interviewing; asking open-ended questions, being flexible, letting interviewees lead their narratives, and accepting silences and reticence. Being self-reflexive every step of the way and thinking of one's positionality in relation to participants is also crucial.

Ethics are another huge facet of oral history; informed consent, mitigation of harm, and right of withdrawal are vital when working with community members, especially when recounting stories of trauma, oppression, violence, displacement, genocide, etc., that can be difficult to relive.

Oral history projects must also be non-extractive. Fostering and maintaining relationships with project partners and participants is one facet of this, but communities and individuals also need to get something out of a project. Museums can have a powerful role in this aspect, where people get to see themselves in historical narratives, have their stories valued and preserved for future generations, and it can have the effect of “mak[ing] big history personal.”

The State Library of Western Australia holds a collection of oral histories from Aboriginal people | Source

However, there are challenges with oral history that can’t be forgotten, as these can arise in museums. As important as it is to collect oral histories, it is even more important to share them and bring them to the public in meaningful ways. Collecting and sharing oral histories brings about many questions to address, such as: who gets to interpret stories? How can they be shared in engaging, compelling, and dynamic ways? How can we rightfully represent accounts by not relying on "juicy" quotes? What is lost when transcribing interviews? Should oral history be used to complement the narrative of an exhibition or challenge it? What forms should video and audio preservation take for long-term collecting of interviews? Who owns the rights and permissions to an oral history interview, and what are the limits around its uses?

The Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 records stories of immigration to Canada | Source

Even with these challenges, oral history is a powerful methodology with its own history, ethics, and theory, which has relevant potential in museums. Not only is oral history interviewing and collecting an enriching endeavour for museums and communities, the values and concepts at the core of this field can also be applied to all kinds of museum projects, exhibitions, and programming. Democratizing museum institutions by bringing in outside perspectives, fostering long-lasting and beneficial relationships with community members, and allowing people to not only see their stories preserved and shared, but also allowing visitors to connect with museums on a deeper level, are all part of the positive impact that oral history has on museums.