The Oral History Association (OHA) is a professional association for oral historians and others interested in oral history

Oral history

Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews...

. It is based in the United States but has international membership. Its mission is "to bring together all persons interested in oral history as a way of collecting and interpreting human memories to foster knowledge and human dignity."

History

In 1966 James V. Mink, director of the UCLA Oral History Program, planned and staged the First National Colloquium on Oral History at Arrowhead

Lake Arrowhead, California

Lake Arrowhead is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in the San Bernardino Mountains of San Bernardino County, California, within the San Bernardino National Forest, adjacent to Lake Arrowhead Reservoir...

, California. Panelists at the meeting included Louis M. Starr, director of the Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 oral history program; Elizabeth Mason, associate director of the Columbia University oral history program; Allan Nevins, writer and historian; Samuel Hand, history professor at the University of Vermont

University of Vermont

The University of Vermont comprises seven undergraduate schools, an honors college, a graduate college, and a college of medicine. The Honors College does not offer its own degrees; students in the Honors College concurrently enroll in one of the university's seven undergraduate colleges or...

; and Saul Benison, writer and history professor at Brandeis University

Brandeis University

Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...

. The founding of an oral history association was first discussed at this meeting, and James Mink served as the Chairman of the new association from 1967 - 1968.

In 1968 Louis Starr organized the Second National Colloquium on Oral History which was held at Arden House

Arden (estate)

Arden was the estate owned by railroad magnate Edward Henry Harriman and Mary Averell Harriman outside Harriman, New York. By the early nineteen hundreds the family owned in the area, half of it comprising the Arden Estate...

in New York. Starr, who served as the Oral History Association's first president, had OHA incorporated as a non-profit in New York state.

Activities

OHA holds an annual meeting that focuses on different oral history topics every year, hosts a Wiki for sharing resources, and hosts an online OHA Network for finding other members with similar interests.

OHA gives out the following awards:

• Emerging Crises Research Annual Fund
• Stetson Kennedy Vox Populi ("Voice of the People") Annual Award
• Book Award (biennial)
• Oral History in Nonprint Format (biennial)
• Martha Ross Teaching Award (biennial)
• Article Award (biennial)
• Postsecondary Teaching Award (biennial)
• Elizabeth B. Mason Project Award (biennial)

OHA encourages its members to participate in its seven committees:

• Committee on Diversity
• Education Committee
• Finance Committee
• International Committee
• New Media and Digital Technology Committee
• Publications Committee
• State and Regional Forum

Publications

The Oral History Review is the official publication of OHA and was first issued in 1973. Its founding editor was Samuel Hand. Released annually from 1973 - 1986, it is now released biannual by Oxford Journals.

Newsletters are released in the spring, fall, and winter each year. A Pamphlet Series provides information about topics such as oral history in the classroom and oral history for the family historian.

Affiliates

• International Oral History Association
• Michigan Oral History Association
• Midwest Oral History Group
• New England Association for Oral History
• Northwest Oral History Association
• OHMAR – Oral History Mid-Atlantic Region
• Southwest Oral History Association
• Texas Oral History Association