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Oral histories are the voices of the
disenfranchised—the famous and the lesser known.
Artists, musicians, laborers, survivors, immigrants, and
students are just a few of the silent people to whom
oral histories give voice. Groups whose stories
otherwise might remain unnoticed—the illiterate, common
people, minorities, and others who rarely see their
stories published—can finally be heard through oral
histories.
This kind of material has not been accessible to a
wide audience. Most existing indexes reference oral
history only as a broad collection category. The rare
finding aid that does point to specific collections
lacks controlled vocabularies and is not electronic. As
a result, there has been no easy way for scholars to
find such materials related to their research. Even when
they can locate the writings, researchers face the task
of wading through hundreds of pages of text before
determining whether any of the content is relevant.
Oral History Online
is a major initiative that will continue to grow, with
new collections being added regularly. We aim to index
all the important oral histories available either on the
Web or hidden away in archives, in English, all around
the world, linking subscribers to full text, audio, and
video whenever available. The database also includes
tens of thousands of pages of full text that are
available nowhere else but through Alexander
Street—including 40,000 pages of Ellis Island oral
histories in electronic format for the first time,
exclusive Black Panther Party narratives, and other
unique and in-copyright content.
You may access
Oral History Online
from anywhere
with a valid APSU ID.
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