Practicing Oral History to Connect University to Community

Practicing Oral History to Connect University to Community illustrates best practices for using oral histories to foster a closer relationship between institutions of higher learning and the communities in which they are located.

Using case studies, the book describes how to plan and execute an oral history project that can help break down walls and bring together universities and their surrounding communities. It offers advice on how to locate funding sources, disseminate information about the results of a project, ensure the long-term preservation of the oral histories collected and incorporate oral history into the classroom. Bringing together ‘town and gown’, the book demonstrates how different communities can work together to discover new research opportunities and methods for preserving history.

Supported by examples, sample forms and online resources, the book is an important resource both for oral historians and those working to improve relationships between university institutions and their neighboring communities.

Fawn-Amber Montoya received her PhD from the University of Arizona in 2007. Montoya currently serves as the Director of the Honors Program at Colorado State University- Pueblo. Montoya edited the collection Making an American Workforce: The Rockefellers and the Legacy of Ludlow (2014).

Beverly B. Allen received her M.A. in History from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and her M.S. in Library Science from the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign. She is currently University Archivist at the Colorado State University-Pueblo and has written several articles about building ethnically diverse archival collections, including "Yo Soy Colorado: Three Collaborative Hispanic Cultural Heritage Initiatives," (Collaborative Librarianship, 2012).