Community historians have many tools to document the past including collecting photos or other community documents and researching government records like the census, birth records, or housing records. However, perhaps the most important tool available to a community historian is oral history.

One of the easiest ways to begin documenting counter-narratives in history is to conduct oral histories. An oral history is a planned and recorded conversation with a person focused on that person’s memories of their life. Over the last fifty years, oral history has been one of the key tools used by community historians to tell Asian Americans and Pacific Islander history. In an oral history, the person who shares their memories is called the historical narrator. The person who asks the questions and records the interview is called the interviewer.

We define an oral history as a planned, collaborative conversation about personal life experiences that is recorded and shared with other members of the community.