Activity
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian: Folklife and Oral History Interviewing Guide

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
The Smithsonian Folklife and Oral History Interviewing Guide by by Marjorie Hunt is an excellent resource for collecting family and community cultural information. It provides step-by-step information on how to plan and conduct...
Handout
US Holocaust Memorial Museum

U.s. Holocaust Memorial Museum: Guidelines for Oral History Interviews

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Speaking to people with firsthand knowledge of an event is an important way to gather information. Use these guidelines to help prepare for an oral history interview.
Activity
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Folklife and Oral History Interviewing Guide

For Students 9th - 10th
If you set out to do your own primary research with a tradition-bearer in your community, this guide will be very valuable. Get information about how to get the best results, along with an extensive list of possible questions for the...
Website
Smithsonian Institution

Archives of American Arts: Oral History Interviews, Farm Security Administration

For Students 9th - 10th
This site lists over 400 oral history interviews from artists, administrators and others involved with the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930's and 40's.
Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Voice of Witness: A Sudanese Refugee's Oral History

For Students 7th - 8th
CommonLit.org is a wonderful resource to use in a Language Arts classroom. Each text is accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. In addition, students can click on words to see the...
Primary
US House of Representatives

History, Art, and Archives: Oral History of the House of Representatives

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Through interviews with House officers, aides, committee staff, former Representatives, and others, a rich heritage has been preserved. Audio, video, and transcripts provide a look into legislative processes and procedures, personal and...
Website
Harry S. Truman Library and Museum

Truman Library: Oral History Interview With Leon H. Keyserling

For Students 9th - 10th
A fascinating interview with Leon Keyserling, a member of the Roosevelt Administration who played a large part in the implementation of the New Deal, recorded for the Truman Library in 1971.
Handout
Other

The Collection: Chicago Architects Oral History Project

For Students 9th - 10th
Choose from an extensive list of Chicago area architects and learn information about their lives and their work. Includes links to interviews and biographies.
Activity
Scholastic

Scholastic: Writing Workshop: Oral History

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Great online lesson that takes students through the entire writing process- from prompt to publishing. Online or printable versions of each step are available. The prompt asks students to interview people and write about their oral...
Website
Other

National History Day

For Students 9th - 10th
Students and teachers participate in a yearly history-themed competition and celebration of historical topics. Young learners conduct primary and secondary research by studying archives, museums, oral history interviews, and historical...
Website
Brown University

The Whole World Was Watching: An Oral History of 1968

For Students 9th - 10th
Memories of 1968 are collected via interviews conducted by high school students. Important issues during that time include civil rights, Vietnam, the politics of the time and women's rights. There are transcripts of interviews and key...
Primary
Other

Nashville Public Library Digital Collection: Veterans History Project Collection

For Students 9th - 10th
A collection of oral history interviews and artifacts from veterans from Nashville, Tennessee and Davidson County, Tennessee. Most of the material and interviews come from World War II veterans, but a few are from later wars, including...
Lesson Plan
Library of Congress

Loc: Migration During the Great Depression: Living History

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Most people in Central Florida came from somewhere else. Students first analyze life histories from American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940 to learn oral history techniques. They then interview...
Activity
Gabriel Dumont Institute

The Virtual Museum of Metis History and Culture

For Students 9th - 10th
This user-friendly site takes a close look at Metis history and culture through the use of many primary resources including oral histories, audio and video files, art, interviews, documents, and more. Very comprehensive site.
Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Read Write Think: Exploring and Sharing Family Stories

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Writing gets personal when students interview family members in order to write a personal narrative about that person.
Primary
Rutgers University

Rutgers Oral History Archive

For Students 9th - 10th
This archive records the personal experiences of the American men and women who served on the homefront and overseas during World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War. Also offers resources on the men and women who...
Activity
Other

Harvard Business School: A Daring Experiment: Business Education for Women

For Students 9th - 10th
Fascinating discussion of the history of business education at Harvard which began in 1937. Includes a compilation of materials to support this such as historic documents, photographs, publications, and oral history interviews.
Website
University of North Carolina

Documenting the American South (Doc South)

For Students K - 1st Standards
Provides primary sources for the study of southern history, culture and literature. DocSouth includes sixteen thematic collections of books, diaries, posters, artifacts, letters, oral history interviews, and songs.
Website
Library of Congress

Loc: American Folklife Center

For Students 9th - 10th
Set up to assist American families in tracing their family histories, this extensive guide explains how to begin the process, to conduct research, tp take oral interviews, and to locate and analyze documents.
Lesson Plan
Library of Congress

Loc: Interviews With Today's Immigrants

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This site, part of a larger lesson plan about immigration from the Library of Congress, provides interviews that students had with immigrants from around the world.
Primary
University of Washington

University of Washington Libraries: South Asian Oral History Project

For Students 9th - 10th
hese interviews reflect religious, linguistic, occupational and gender diversity and provide rich insight into changing experiences of South Asians in the Pacific Northwest.
Activity
US Senate

Explore the Senate's Past

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Covers the workings of the Senate and how it evolved, and includes exhibits of historical photos and paintings. The Oral History section has interviews with people who worked in the Senate, where they discuss their careers and the...
Handout
Alberta Online Encyclopedia

Alberta Online Encyclopedia: Tus: Aboriginal Traditions and Knowledge

For Students 9th - 10th
The TUS website examines the history and methodologies of land use by Aboriginal peoples. The Multimedia link is an excellent source of oral histories through interviews with elders as well as other knowledgeable people.
Lesson Plan
Library of Congress

Loc: Immigration and Migration:today/during the Great Depression

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students address these questions through activities using oral history methods and investigating life in the 1930s. They compare the immigration/migration experiences of their families to those of people living through the Great...