Notes on Oral History Collections
The Northern Arizona University Cline Library Special Collections and Archives Department houses over 67 oral history collections, making more than 774 individual interviews available to researchers and students. The majority of the interviews were conducted with Arizona pioneers, and their contents reflect widely-varying views of bygone days in northern Arizona. Such interviews are a dynamic example of the recent shift in historical documentation methodology.
The use of the interview technique to preserve life experiences is not new, dating prior to Greco-Roman civilization. The recent expansion of oral history preservation programs can be traced to the post-World War II era, due largely to technological advancements that have made recording equipment relatively inexpensive.
The ability to record oral memories has redefined the common perception of what history is. For years, history was considered the exclusive domain of celebrities and V.I.Ps. In recent years, rising interest in local and regional history and genealogy has emphasized the common person's experience as a viable element in historical documentation. The ever-growing interest in "backyard history," coupled with the ease and practicality of the recorded interview, has caused oral history to become one of the most popular and important tools available to historians and researchers today.
The Cline Library continues to support this new tradition, by sponsoring the ongoing creation of historic sound recordings relevant to its Colorado Plateau focus.