Oral Histories are sound or video and sound recordings of interviews about historic topics/events obtained through an interview with someone directly involved with that event or topic.  They serve to provide an eyewitness account of history, with the individual subjectivity of the interviewee.  They allow a ground level perspective on history and put a face to those directly involved.  They provide a fuller, more accurate picture of the past by allowing people to relay their experience of it.  They are not authoritative but reflect lived experiences and the knowledge an individual has about one’s own past and life.  They reflect how individuals and communities have experienced history.  They provide vital insight into the past and how it felt, not just the facts and post-hoc understanding of the past. 

NJAHS has digitized 11 of our Oral History collections as well as a small number of oral histories that are not part of any collection.   Click HERE for a complete index of digitized oral histories.  Below you can see excerpts of some of these oral histories.

To request full audio or video files of these Oral Histories, or full transcripts email lilith@njahs.org including the name of the interviewee, the date of the interview, and the project it is a part of (this will help us find the file more quickly).