Abstract
Paul Thompson
University of Essex, UK
Is it worth forming an Oral History Society? Some reflections from English experience
The revival of oral history work in Britain came from an interdisciplinary approach, at a time when higher education was expanding and experimental. Historians, sociologists, anthropologists, school teachers and community activists, all mostly socialists, were at first working informally together. What drove us to form a recognised Society? How useful has this been in defending and promoting the interests of people working in oral history? One of the most striking indirect gains has been the incorporation of oral history approaches in popular culture and social funding. Especially in the last 15 years there has been a remarkable expansion of community-based oral history, supported primarily by the Heritage Lottery Fund, but also by the BBC with the Millenium Memory Bank. Forming a society has also helped oral history in Britain to develop a public identity and voice. It has created a social space for meeting, publishing, raising standards and sharing ideas. On the other hand, the risk is to create a self-enclosed group, losing the broad coalition from which the movement began. How can this be avoided?
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