A LIST OF ORAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS

Collections Corner | Martin Bierens

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Oral history is certainly not a new concept in the museum field. Realistically, it is the oldest form of passing along knowledge over generations. Recently I have started to think about the relevance of oral histories as my upcoming exhibition project is planning to include information gathered through oral history interviews.

The conduction of an oral history interview as part of the Greater Rosemont History Day. (Source)

In a way, we can think of oral history as an essential element to museum collections. Most collections are composed of objects that have been donated to a museum, but oral histories are individuals donating their story rather than their possessions. A museum must then hold these stories to the same standard as they care for their collections. Oral history in a sense is a way for individuals who may not be wealthy in material goods, but are wealthy in knowledge and stories to share their experiences in a museum setting. Thus, it becomes evident that oral histories are a great way for museums to give space to people who have historically been marginalized.

Here I will be providing a list of some interesting oral history collections in North America that you can check out and listen to amazing stories and histories that are not widely told. If you are looking for more detailed information about oral history as an approach to heritage, check out the work of Chloé Houde and Jingshu Helen Yao.

Historica Canada, a large organization conducting oral history interviews. (Source)

1. Historica Canada — the famed organization behind the iconic “Heritage Minutes” also conducts oral history projects. The organization features stories ranging from Indigenous heritage, historical injustices in Canada, 90 years of Canadian military history, and first-hand accounts of notable Canadians. Their goal is to amplify voices missing from the standard historical narrative.

2. UofT Libraries — The UofT Libraries offer access to thousands of oral history collections on an uncountable amount of topics. Some include the Ellis Island Oral History Project, the Civil Rights Documentation Project, and the Japanese American Relocation Digital Archive.

3. Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Museum Oral History Program — This project focuses on the preservation of Seminole culture, history, and memory. This project has also been an effective method to preserve Creek and Miccosukee, the languages of the Seminole. The production of Creek and Miccosukee dictionaries and a mobile app are also available to Seminole Tribal Members. They have also produced content that teaches how to conduct oral history interviews.

The Columbia Center for Oral History is one of the largest university-operated oral history projects. (Source)  

4. Columbia Center for Oral History — Columbia University actually offers a Master of Arts with a focus on Oral History. Some interesting projects available online are the September 11, 2001, Oral History Project, the Institute for Research on Women, Gender and Sexuality Oral History Project, and the Rule of Law Oral History Project. The latter features interviews with challengers of capital punishment, and in 2010 shifted focus to the experiences of detainees at Guantanamo Bay following the 9/11 Terror Attacks.

5. Library of Congress —The LOC features many oral history projects that touch on a very wide range of topics.

6. Jewish Women’s Archive — The Listen and Tell: Oral Histories project collects oral histories that teach listeners about Jewish history, identity, and community. A wide variety of material is available online some of which includes resources on how to conduct oral history projects, family histories, the testimony of Holocaust survivors, and contemporary Jewish personal histories/stories.

This is a relatively small list of oral history projects, not all of which are conducted by museums, but all tell personal stories. There are so many oral history projects available online that if there is any topic that you are interested in, a quick google search will likely turn up a wealth of resources.

THE ASK: WELCOMING ALUMNI HOME AT UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARIES

(Fun)draising | Samantha Summers

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Unlike the University of Toronto, its faculties, and its colleges, University of Toronto Libraries (UTL) has no alumni. For those of you who have yet to receive an email from your undergraduate institution asking for a donation, universities often rely on their graduates for some portion of their fundraising. Alumni are a majority of donors for academic institutions, and from annual drives to major gifts and planned giving, these institutions mark them out as a primary audience for their donor campaigns. Unlike the rest of these UofT institutions and divisions, however, UTL does not have official alumni. They have no master list of past students which they can tap into in the same way that UofT, its faculties, and its colleges do. And yet, UTL directly contributes to the journey of every single UofT student. Even if you have never walked into Robarts, your online readings, the research for your papers, and the majority of the study spaces you occupy all exist courtesy of UTL.

Robarts Library, in all its peacock-esque glory. (Source.)

So what is the biggest challenge facing Michael Cassabon, the newly-minted Director of Advancement for UTL?

It’s how to make the ask. For those in the field (development, fundraising, advancement, whatever you choose to call it), “the ask” is the moment when an organization asks a potential donor for support. It is carefully planned, generally with months to years of research and preparation involved. It is catered to its recipient, from groups to individuals. “The ask” is a key step in any fundraising campaign.

When you’re an academic institution with no official alumni, however, the question of how to make contact with your past users looms large.

Now, UTL has a history of making successful asks. They accounted for 8% of UofT’s Boundless campaign, the most successful fundraising campaign in Canadian history. They have the ability to develop UTL resources not just with money, but also with gifts in kind. The construction of the Robarts Common is a success story unto itself.

UofT's Boundless campaign was an historic success. (Source.) 

But how can UTL mobilize all their unofficial alumni? Cassabon is convinced that it all comes down to highlighting the mark UTL makes on every student, whether or not they realize that this is the case. An addition challenge UTL faces is that Cassabon’s team consists of only four people, meaning that they don’t have the personpower to seek out donors individually. Through clever campaigns they must convince donors to come to them, and this means tapping into real stories which highlight the important impact UTL has on students.

The trick in any institution, I learn from Cassabon, is to identify who has the stories. Narrative is a powerful way to bring a community together in a shared goal, something he has seen throughout his career. Here at UTL, the keepers of those stories and the mediators of students' experiences of UTL, are librarians, archives, and front-line staff. Centering the work they do is integral to the ask, and essential to demonstrating to alumni that it is worth it for them to return to the UTL community to make their mark as donors.

What is next for UTL? Well, another campaign, the ongoing development of the Robarts Common, and of course, the weaving of compelling stories to welcome alumni home.