People as historical sources
The value of doing oral history – ‘history from below’
“Your memories live longer than your dreams. Memories never fade, if you got a good memory. Those years will never come back again. But if you have your memories like me, you can't be lonely, because you have your memories"
-MrsG.J.
Centre for Popular Memory, University of Cape Town
Oral history deals with the life experiences of ordinary people. Apart from being interesting, oral histories accomplish the following:
They shed new light on well-known events and provide different perspectives and a more fascinating, richly layered history that captures the human spirit and memory of an event.
They provide an inclusive platform for the writing of history by providing opportunities for the elderly, the disabled and minorities to be heard.
They connect us with the history of ourselves, our families, our community and the young with the old, the local with the national and the national with the international.
Because of this it can be argued that Oral History is People’s History or ‘history from below’ rather than the history of one group, usually wealthy, that often sponsor the writing of their own history. For example many of our elders can remember the Great Depression and its effect on families in South Africa or the Second World War and the participation of South Africans in that war. There are many important events during the struggle for freedom in South Africa including the Defiance Campaign of the 1950's, the participation in bus boycotts, or the march of women to the Union Buildings in 1956. People remember the Rivonia Trial, the Sharpeville Massacre and the assassination of Verwoed and the shootings of the children in Soweto in 1976. People remember the death of Steve Biko in 1977, the necklace murders of the turbulent 1980's, the forced removals of the 1960's and 1970's, the student uprisings in the 1980's, the negotiations and marches for peace in the late 1980's, the release of Nelson Mandela and the elections of 1994.
Many were there themselves! Even as teachers, we have stories to tell and share. So oral history is alive and waiting for us to access it as an invaluable source and resource.
It is important for us as learners, at whatever level, to understand that we ourselves already are building our own histories and will become invaluable sources of memory in the future. For example, what do present school learners know and what will they remember about HIV/AIDS and its effect on South Africans in the early twenty first century? What will they be able to tell their children and grandchildren about September 11, 2001 or about the recent Soweto bombings? They are already experiencing history and would have memories of these events that can one day act as sources of memory. What do you as an educator remember about the experiences of the 1960's and 1970's? Although we have lived through apartheid for much of our lives, there are also positive memories relating to music and fashion and other cultural experiences, which reflect the time in our country and a part of a bigger world. What do parents and teachers remember about the music of Miriam Makeba, Jonathon Butler, Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Joan Baez, Ray Charles, Tracy Chapman, etc., to name a few? What did they sing about? How does it reflect history and memory?
We all have stories to tell as learners, teachers, parents and members of the community.
Related Pages:
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References
How to conduct & present historical research
Oral history - an educational tool for educators and learners
Source: Unpublished material from 3 Provincial History Conferences, December 2002, supplied by Claire Dyer, SA History Project, National Dept. of Education.