“Filling the Gaps”: Oral Histories and Underdocumented Populations in The American Archivist, 1938–2011

Abstract

During the 1970s and 1980s, archivists and historians discussed, in their literature, the ways that oral histories could be used to fill in the documentary record with stories from all parts of society, not just stories from white men of means, whose stories often were retained as part of business, government, and university records. This article analyzes pieces from the journal The American Archivist to determine how frequently archivists actually published about using oral history techniques to document people of color, women, the working class, and other consistently underdocumented populations. A survey also was conducted to determine whether archivists undertake oral history projects currently, and if so, to what extent they focus on these underdocumented groups.

Amplifying Civil Rights Collections with Oral Histories: A Collaboration with Alumni at Queens College, City University of New York

“…By the 1970s, historians were urging archivists to use oral histories to illuminate the lived experience of ordinary people and to document the history of social movements from the bottom up. 12 Writing in American Archivist in 1983, James Fogerty defended oral history as an important method for documenting gaps in traditional archives. In particular, he felt that interviews could illuminate the "thoughts and motivations" of collection donors in ways that records alone could not.…”

Collecting First-Generation Voices in Academic Libraries and Archives

“…Webster finds that, "while the archival literature champions [oral histories] as a tool to document underdocumented groups, very few articles actually illustrate how archivists conduct oral histories, particularly of these groups." 36 Similar to the criticism of Helen Willa Samuels' book, information about the mechanics of collection development for oral histories is lacking; although many archivists participate in or help create oral histories, Webster's informal survey of current archival practitioners finds that few specifically focus on marginalized populations. 37 A similar review conducted by Ellen Swain, looking at 50 years of archival, library, and oral history scholarship bolsters this view.…”