Pros And Cons Of Oral History

Creating a repository like the Museum of the Native American Indian is an extensive undertaking, and while many aspects of Indian history are portrayed there are many historians who believe that there is a considerable part of that past missing. Sonya Atalay remarked that, “The exhibits do not offer visitors the context of struggle necessary to appreciate these victories and the ultimate survival of Indigenous communities of North America as sovereign, self-determining nations.” For many historians, including Atalay, context is an extremely important facet of Native American history that many individuals are not able

Historians produce knowledge for us to learn from in the form of written documentation showing what people have done in the

These oral stories, or histories, provides historical actors with an opportunity to depict their own stories in their own words, where usual written records often discount the great unwashed. For Indigenous peoples, individuality is critical to shared histories. Politicians, activists, and business leaders may materialize frequently in official documents and the media, usually manipulating it for their purposes, but the rest of us very seldom do. In The Back of The Turtle, Kings portrays a identical similar setting; a world full of media coverage that is manipulated by large companies, such as Dominion; “‘A spill?’ ‘No’ said Winter. “But evidently there has been some seepage. Possibly from one of our ponds.’ ‘Didn’t we fund an environmental

Most events and places of historical value nowadays holds little value in our lives. We confine ourselves to our interstates and highways, following the long line of motel chains stopping for maybe two minutes to take a picture just to say we were there. We take nothing away from these sites that is of real value. We barely scratch at the surface of information and true meaning of what happened at these historical sites. Rinker Buck explains his own experience with removing himself from this cultural norm

For the oral history project, I interviewed my grandmother. Her full name is Imelda Laborce, while she is known as “Meldy” to most family members. She was born in a small town called Calapacuan in the Zambales region of the Philippines. She was born in 1955 and is 61 years old. Like me, she was born in the Philippines but eventually moved to America sometime in her life. I believed she was a good candidate because I knew she was one of the earliest members of my family to travel to America. Hence, she must have good stories and have a rich background. I also never really knew anything about her past, so I just thought it would be interesting in general to learn about it. She currently lives in Union, New Jersey and works in a hospital as a nurse.

As children growing up in the United States, educated through our public schools, we learned about the institution of slavery, which was an integral part of life in our country for nearly 300 years. We do not usually question the historical facts we learned about slavery or ask how we know so much about the history of these people (the enslaved Africans in America) who left behind so little written record. In the classroom, archeologists do not receive much credit, but it is largely through their work and research that we have been able to learn about “America’s diverse ethnic heritage” (Singleton 155). In the 1960’s, excavations of slave cabins

The other sources that Davidson and Lytle examined were not only diverse but also effective. Many of the sources were direct quotations from the words of freedmen, including two in-depth interviews of the same ex-slave by different reporters. Other sources included stories and writings of both southern and northern whites. While almost all of the sources were primary, many were taken from secondary source books that included the words of primary sources. Taking primary sources from secondary source books can be a dangerous habit because it is not known what the author of the secondary source chose to leave out. The primary sources may have already been biased even before Davidson and Lytle were able to make their own focuses. However, some of the sources were direct primary sources such as letters and diaries. In addition, all sources used were done so effectively. The diversity of the sources made the authors’ argument more convincing since their views were not limited to one kind of source.

Imagine you have just completed a trip through the early kingdoms and city-states of East, Central, and South Africa. Your family and friends ask you about the trip. Your task is to give them an oral history of your experience. You may choose to write your account, record it, or make a video. Remember, your family and friends will share your story and pass it on to future generations, like oral historians in Africa. Make it fascinating! No one wants to hear a boring story.

We also have recorded documentation that corroborates such as the likes of Benjamin Drew, Narratives of An Escaped Slave [Mrs. Nancy Howard] tells her story how she was treated……

Recording history is very important. History tells us about how our ancestors lived, and knowing it will give you a solid foundation for discerning between right and wrong. Looking back at our history can prevent us from making the same mistakes that were made before. God even commanded us to remember the past. Mankind recorded history through books, songs, and stories that were passed on through generations, but those records can be confusing. Just reading and hearing about something doesn’t give you a clear understanding or view on what happened before. To actually see history through photos gives you a better understanding. A man who contributed to making history clearer during the Civil War is Mathew Brady.

interviews of people who have or know people who have experienced historical events of the past. For this essay, I chose to take an oral history of the civil rights movement and the great migration. Preserving the memories of the individuals that lived during these historical events allows for many things in addressing the silence of African American experiences within U.S. History. First, memories and recollections taken from oral histories may differ from the perspectives of those who have appear on historical records or may be completely absent from any other documentations. Also, because cameras and video cameras were not as easily accessible as they are today, the majority of history is documented from peoples’ memories through letters, diaries, and oral history interviews. In addition, taking an oral history allows me to ask specific questions towards what I am are interested in documenting about the civil rights movement and the great migration. Lastly, oral histories are somewhat viewed as a “revisionist” to the study of both the civil rights movement and the great migration because it takes firsthand accounts of those participating on campaigns and protests and also of those were watching from afar and allows readers to understand each individual part of what made the movement as a whole.

In Camilla Townsend’s book, Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma, Townsend points out that there are many historical inaccuracies and myths that are associated with the story of Pocahontas. Using historical evidence to support the story of Pocahontas, Townsend attempted to create an accurate timeline bringing the past to the present. At the same time, the Disney film Pocahontas attempted to depict Algonquian culture accurately, however, according to history, much of the material presented in the film is full of misconceptions and is historically imprecise. In fact, Disney’s Pocahontas epitomizes John Smith and

Imagine being able to tell stories for generations to come without ever having to write down a single word. Oral tradition is used to pass stories down from generation to generation through different forms of communication without any writing system. Oral tradition stories are told by word of mouth, riddles, storytelling, and songs. It cannot be changed although the narrator might embellish it. Oral tradition is how Africans perceived the past. The significance of oral Tradition is due to the stories holding so much information and knowledge. Oral tradition contributed to understanding pre-colonial history because the pre-colonial Africa was influenced by two major movements which are the expansion of islam and the dispersion of the bantu. Oral tradition gave us the perspective as to why the expansion and dispersion took place. Oral tradition has its strengths and weaknesses. A strength of oral tradition is that it is being told from word of mouth and more people will listen to a good storyteller than to go read a book about the history. However, a weakness of oral tradition is that many of the stories get forgotten, left out, or embellished. With each re-telling the story gets further and further away from the original. Oral tradition is a primary way of conveying culture and is a way of life in African history.

Though it is known that the history of storytelling is quite ancient, stories still play a crucial part of our societies and cultures. Its influence is in almost every aspect of human life whether it be movies, books, music, news, religion, or art. Stories are what define us and our morals, our dreams, our prejudices, and our desires. Typically, oral stories are handed down generation to generation. It is not known who or when the first story was told, much less what the first story was (History).

Oral history that provides deep reflections of certain incidences or events analyzing relevant aspects such as the pros and cons, effects and problems.