“Times of Crisis, Times of Change: Human Stories on the Edge of Transformation.”
October 27-31, 2010, Atlanta, Georgia 

Program of Events, Program Schedule,  Registration Information, and Advertisments

Focusing on the themes of civil rights, human rights, immigration, and LGBT history, this year’s conference marks the 50^th anniversary of the Atlanta Student Movement, the founding of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the 5^th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.  Keynote speakers include award-winning journalist, Maria Hinojosa, and Black Freedom Movement veterans, Connie Curry, Lonnie King, Bernard LaFayette, Jr., and Judy Richardson.  The conference opens on Wednesday evening with film, songs, and recollections of the Depression Era and the Federal Writers’ Project of the 1930s. Three plenary sessions focus on Katrina, present day immigration, and oral history in LGBT communities. The Presidential Reception, in the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, includes a memorial tribute to Brother Blue.  Also featured are New Book Spotlights on some of the most vibrant examples of growth in the field of oral history. 

We invite you to see the full Program of Events (Download PDF), and the Program Schedule(Download PDF).  Changes will be made periodically throughout the summer.

Registration Information (Download PDF)

I am pleased to invite you to join an interactive on-line discussion of the OHA Principles and Best Practices for Oral History, including proposed revisions or additions. This is being conducted through a Principles and Best Practices Group on the OHA Network, accessed from the Quick Links box on this page. The dialogue is intended to inform an open session at this fall’s annual meeting in Atlanta, for face-to-face discussion of the documents and any possible changes. 

Access to on-line discussion requires registering for the OHA network, but it does NOT require being an OHA member. The registration process is simple and instantaneous, and it is just as easy to then join the “Principles and Best Practices” OHA Network Group.

There you will find four discussion threads: general comments; comments on the Principles Section; comments on the Best Practices Section; and a thread for presentation or discussion of specific proposed amendments, changes, or additions. Click on any of these to open the discussion thread for review and contributions.  Document files (like draft revision text or more extensive detailed commentary) can also be uploaded into your personal file cabinet and identified as sharable with the Group. They will then show up in the Group’s file cabinet. 

Sign up for the Network, join the Group, check out the Group home page and discussion threads frequently, and most important of all, contribute your ideas and perspective. The wider and deeper the participation, the more useful the evolving guidelines can become for all those drawn to oral history.

Michael Frisch, OHA President

The Oral History Association is now accepting applications for a freelance writer to write a substantial pamphlet (up to 100 pages in length) on teaching oral history at the post-secondary level (i.e., to undergraduate and graduate students). 

This pamphlet will be published by the OHA as part of its pamphlet series, which offers basic and useful information about many aspects of conducting, interpreting, processing, and publishing oral history interviews and managing oral history programs and projects.  Application details (doc).

The OHA is pleased to announce the first Stetson Kennedy Vox Populi (“Voice of the People”) award, to be presented biennially at the association’s annual meeting. The award honors outstanding achievement in the collecting and use of oral histories of individuals or organizations whose work has contributed to change for a better world. Nominations can be made by individuals, organizations, or groups. Submission details.