‘We never tell the story whole because a life isn’t a story; it’s a whole Milky Way of events and we are forever picking out constellations from it to fit who and where we are.’[1] Rebecca Solnit’s image of dynamic engagement with the past captures what is, for me, one of the most enthralling aspectsContinue reading "Sunlight in the Elizabeth Roberts Working-Class Oral History Archive: Sue Bradley"
Children, families and memory: Heather Goodall
Childhood and youth are idealised as times for carefree pleasures – with few responsibilities and little impact from the troubled adult world. But as oral historians, we are often asking people to recall memories from their childhood or youth. So we need to consider how the age and perspectives of youth shaped the ways youngContinue reading "Children, families and memory: Heather Goodall"
“When breath becomes air…”
This post is a reflection of how death was communicated in the past and the effect of social media on this kind of communication in the context of the pandemic.
Anatomy of a project abandoned: How I failed to navigate personal relationships for oral history research: Piyusha Chatterjee
Durgapur Thermal Power Plant from the highway This is the story of a research project that was abandoned. It’s also the story of my love-hate relationship with my first research project and, for lack of a better word, the failure to execute it. After living with this project for the first two years of myContinue reading "Anatomy of a project abandoned: How I failed to navigate personal relationships for oral history research: Piyusha Chatterjee"
The Jallianwala Bagh Journals Sarmistha Dutta Gupta
Professor Vishwa Nath Datta had been seated in his chair. Utsab got his camera ready while Nonica helped her father put on the hearing aid. I switched on the sound recorder, and was excited to talk to the 1926-born historian who grew up in his ancestral home, just ten minutes away from Jallianwala Bagh.
A story with no ending: Meeting Vincent Stone
Vincent Stone, recording his story at Dylan's Cafe, Shillong, November 2017. On pleasant November day in 2017, Sandro and I set out to meet Vincent Stone. We are in Shillong – the beautiful capital of the scenic state of Meghalaya [literally, “the place where the clouds dwell”] in north east India . Alessandro Portelli (Sandro)Continue reading "A story with no ending: Meeting Vincent Stone"
The Oral Historian 