We have asked people from around the world to share their thoughts on the importance of Oral History. Here are some of their comments. If you would like to add your own perspective to these, please send us an e-mail message and be sure to indicate your nationality or ethnic background.
I know very little about my grandfather. My father says he doesn't remember much either. My grandfather caught his arm in a mill accident. He died several months later from a secondary infection. I have seen a few pictures of him, so I have a vague idea of what he looked like, but I still have no clear idea of what he was like. If he had written something, I would be able to read about his life. An Oral History would have been a great way for him to tell these stories. If my grandfather had left one I could hear how the inventions of radio and TV affected him and his family. I could hear how the great depression and the two World Wars affected his life.
It is very sad that my grandfather was unable to record any sort of history before his death. His story is not completely forgotten, however. His wife, my grandmother, and his children, my uncle, aunt and even my father have memories of my grandfather. Each of them has stories to tell about my grandfather. An Oral History would be a great way for them to tell these stories. Though my grandfather died before he could tell these tales, my grandmother can still do so. In these stories my grandfather will live on.
Coming from a close knit family where everyone loves talking makes you realize the importance of sharing experiences. Oh yes, history can be learned from history books, but how many of us can truthfully admit to enjoying those history lessons in school. The older we get the more often we hear ourselves and our friends say, "I sound more and more like my father/mother." And there comes a time when we wished that we had spent more time with them and listened more to their experiences. The history we read in history books is from the viewpoint of people we have never met. I think it would amaze us as to the wealth of information we have in our own neighborhoods and families. Many old people don't talk about the past as hardly anyone has time for them anymore but has anyone considered the wealth of information and experience they can share? We often hear that history repeats itself but don't pay much attention to it in our day to day lives. However, how many of us may have been spared painful experiences and expensive losses if only we had listened to the advice of an elder?
Personal oral history provides us with information, anecdotes and personal insights rarely found in official documents. When we record people's memories and unique life experiences we get a more vivid picture of our past. Official history books rarely, if at all, report on the personal experiences of the common man, namely, his interpretation of events that took place. When we record people's memories we also record what was passed down to them from previous generations. This information would be lost to us with the passing of each generation. Many of our grandparents and parents have personally fought in and lived through wars, something many of us have never experienced and hopefully never will. However, along with these wars came hardships through which they survived. I believe these experiences made them stronger and more tolerant. Both my parents were directly affected when India was divided after the British rule. The families suffered immense hardships but worked hard to successfully overcome them. Today, when I have a problem and speak to them about it, by the end of the conversation the problem is tiny - if it is there at all! From talking to people who have lost everything and come up again we learn not to be scared to try, to face any form of failure as a learning experience and to face the future head on. For if past generations could overcome problems, so can we!
I personally feel that oral history to families is very important. If our ancestors kept better record or if it was orally passed down to us we would have that knowledge today. We thankfully have the majority of it or we'd all be in a bit of a fix about our ancestry and family wouldn't be as important to us. Perhaps these stories will be precious to the ones who will have it forever documented in a book. I know I would love the story of a member of my family who cared enough to take the time to document their life's story in a book for me and all those who come after. Life is precious, what we experience in life should be noted down to be read by future generations. You never know what your words, your life's story can mean to someone.
When a death occurs in a family, there are many hardships a family must experience. One of the hardships that is often overlooked is the problem of unanswered questions. One might wonder what kind of jobs Grandpa held after high school, or what kind of women he dated before he met Grandma. Not knowing these simple things will not cause the household to break down, but knowing can certainly help younger, or more distant members of the family feel a lot closer.
Personally, I take pride in the stories my grandmother used to tell about my grandfather's job at the docks in Philadelphia, and how the advent of unions changed so many things for them in the early 1900s. These kinds of stories made me feel a lot better when he passed away. I felt closer to him through these stories. Preservation of oral traditions, and passing stories about the patriarchs and matriarchs of a family can be invaluable to a family's sense of unity and history, as well as ease times of transition after a loss.
Oral Histories offer more than purely a rich source of historical information, providing insight into life as it was once lived and breathed. They have the power to deepen our experience of being alive. Compared to days of old, we live now quite an isolated existence, distanced from each other physically by the erosion of village living as well as emotionally by a culture that celebrates individuality above community, youth above aging and material wealth above spiritual growth. Once upon a time Oral Histories played such a profound role in peoples' lives, connecting them to each other and the past. They educated people with lessons learned by those before them and they nurtured an appreciation of family with stories of ancestors. They nourished individuals with a strong sense of belonging and identity and they ensured that elders, as the keepers of history, were respected as knowledgeable and wise leaders of the community. To reclaim the custom of Oral History telling among families offers individuals a chance to recapture all this.
Oral histories are important to families because people can recount in their own words the past as they saw it. Speaking candidly, they recount the events that affected and influenced their lives, the good times and the bad times, intense personal moments as well as national or international events.
Most families talk about the past, about how things were in the old days, where they lived, how they lived, what was good and what was bad. But in most cases there is no real direction in what they are saying. They can talk about what how they felt when, for example, Kennedy was assassinated, one minute then change the subject to what kind of candy they liked as children the next. When they are interviewed for an oral history, however, the interviewer can outline the questions before the interview, giving them some leeway to improvise. The pride and joy the interviewee and other family members get from reading their own history is the value of the oral history.
Having family oral histories continues to be an important way to pass precious information to new generations. Families, after all, form the basic core of society, and hence if individual families do not know of their own histories, how can society as a whole know and relate to its own? Without histories to buffer our foundations as humanity, we tend to become fragmented and detached and aimless -- a consequence of the fast-paced evolving world that we live in.
I myself wish my own grandparents had their oral histories committed to paper, for much has been lost since their transition from their homeland to their adopted country. This is even more so for ancestors on my mother's side, for I have not talked to her for twenty five years since her divorce with my father.
While one of my mother's cousin's has delved into our family history and discovered our lineage for several generations, her research only partially answers questions for my mother's own sprawling branch of the family. When my mother died suddenly five years ago, I was left scrambling for answers about our family's history. I immediately remembered a video-taped interview I had recorded with both my parents on their living room sofa. It was supposed to have been the first in an in-depth series but, ultimately, was the only installment. It is a cherished family heirloom now. I only wish I had had the foresight to complete more of the project.
When an elder dies, goes an African proverb, it is as if a library has burned to the ground. This is true, particularly in cultures where records are still transmitted orally from one generation to the next. However, it no longer has to be. Legacy Memoirs is providing a vitally important service and filling a unique niche.
The documentation of family memories and histories is an important and exciting pursuit, not just for the families involved, but also for the people assisting in such documentation. The value of securing historical information and personal anecdotes can be both useful to historians and rewarding for those who can no longer receive this information first hand from loved ones. I know that I will always have memories to cherish, recall and pass on to my family in the future. Having realized how precious these memories are to me, I will continue to record what I can of my past so that future generations in my family can enjoy my memories.
Australia's Aboriginal people refer to their version of genesis as the "Dreamtime": a time of stories and legends passed from one generation to the next. The early years of my life are like my own personal Dreamtime, and they remain so even to this day. Sometimes I talk about my abstract recollections with my family, trying to match my memories with what was happening in everyone else's life. But this kind of comparison seldom helps, as my childhood perspective almost never included the issues and events of the adult world -- apart from major watersheds like Neil Armstrong's moon walk and the time our house was flooded during the monsoons.
I have discovered a great many things -- not least of which was the value of a good education and the almost irritating propensity of parents to know more about practically any given subject than their teenage sons. And this accumulated wisdom, along with that unique parental perspective on our childhood, is certainly worth preserving for the sake of posterity.
Each of us has a little of our dad and mom in us, as well as a little of our grandparents. It isn't just physical characteristics, either. It is religion, traditions, values, morals, and basically what makes us who we are and what we believe. Oral history is very important in preserving "family" in its strongest sense. It is well worth everyone's while to research and record the past in a written document that can be enjoyed by the family and generations to come.
Each and every person has a great deal of stories-interesting, humorous, touching, entertaining-and so many well worth remembering, to be passed on from generation to generation. Unfortunately, however, unless recorded or documented, so much of a family's history is lost or forgotten as the years go by.
In our family, so little is known even about living relatives, and there is virtually nothing known about our family's history past my great grandparents. Any document or recording that captured historic moments, with stories and accounts from family, present or past, would be an incredibly cherished and treasured item. Sharing facts and stories about family with family is not only interesting and entertaining but has a way of tightening family ties and giving each member a sense of belonging.