oral history

American  

noun

1. information of historical or sociological importance obtained usually by tape-recorded interviews with persons whose experiences and memories are representative or whose lives have been of special significance.

2. a book, article, recording, or transcription of such information.

---

oral history British  

noun

1. the memories of living people about events or social conditions which they experienced in their earlier lives taped and preserved as historical evidence

---

Other Word Forms

• oral historian noun

Etymology

Origin of oral history

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

The Academy Foundation earlier this month laid off all five staffers with its Oral History Projects team, effectively dissolving the department responsible for conducting and preserving interviews with notable members of the film industry.

From Los Angeles Times

Four of the five staffers who previously comprised the Oral History Projects department were in union roles.

From Los Angeles Times

The Academy Foundation established its Oral History Program in 1989 with the goal of documenting the careers of industry professionals using audio recordings.

From Los Angeles Times

The now-dissolved Oral History Projects department was founded in 2012 to streamline the collections process, and to date has recorded more than 185 interviews — each between four or five hours long.

From Los Angeles Times

“I wanted to see how it works,” he said in a 2013 oral history recorded by the Computer History Museum.

From The Wall Street Journal