Resource Library
A curated selection of resources for family historians, community archivists, documentarians, memoir writers and more.
How to use:
Click on a category to see all resources related to the category; or
Search by keyword; or
Check out Featured Resources; or
Browse all sources below.
Categories
Thickening the Narrative: Resources to learn, deepen, and teach untold stories, from nonwhite narrative histories, to trauma-informed research and more.
Documentary Practices: Examples of documentary writing (including memoir, personal essay, journalism) fictions based on truth (historical, autofiction), photography and film, as well as tips and prompts.
Archives: Examples of public archives of specific communities and resources for archiving your own collections.
Classes: These resources offer classes to enhance your archiving and documentary practice skills. For workshops with Amanda, please check out the Workshops page.
Oral History: Resources to help you strengthen your skills and practices in oral history collection, as well as examples for how to present your interviews.
Featured Resources:
Twilight: Los Angeles 1992
A tour-de-force play and film by Anna Deveare Smith, born out of interviews with people who were involved with or part of the fabric of Los Angeles in the aftermath of the Rodney King riots.
Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do
A fascinating look at jobs and what great documentation and oral history can convey.
Southern Foodways Alliance
The Southern Foodways Alliance documents, studies, and explores the diverse food cultures of the changing American South.
Oral History Association
The Oral History Association is a membership and professional association with incredible articles and toolkits for those who want to conduct ethical and effective oral history interview.
Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage
The Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage has collected and preserved the stories of Mississippians from all walks of life. Housed at the University of Southern Mississippi.
Institute for Oral History, Baylor University
The Institute for Oral History creates oral history memoirs by preserving a sound recording and transcript of interviews with individuals who are eyewitnesses to history. Excellent workshops and resources on the site.
Vermont Folklife
Founded in 1984, Vermont Folklife is a nationally-known education and cultural research nonprofit that uses ethnography—the study of cultural experience through interviewing, participation and observation—to strengthen the understanding of the cultural and social fabric of Vermont's diverse communities.
Lives Well Lived
This is a lovely documentary by Sky Bergman, featuring active elderly adults with incredible stories.
StoryCorps
StoryCorps is committed to the idea that everyone has an important story to tell and that everyone’s story matters. Many of the stories that StoryCorps features are interviews between loved ones, which can be freeing or not (or both, even in the same interview).
Oral History Master of Arts, Columbia University
OHMA teaches oral history as a practice of co-creating dialogic, critical conversations about the past, in the present, which are oriented towards the future. They also present public workshops and presentations, which are always incredibly informative and well-facilitated.