The Reliability of Oral History:

Oral historians record interviews with elderly people about their lives and experiences as the basis of the histories they write. However, history is not merely a photograph we take of the past. It is selective in what it retains and what it ignores. And what we do remember sometimes ends up being stretched into a "fun-house-mirror" version of what actually happened. Yet, in many respects, human memory is amazingly durable and reliable, as trustworthy as any other source available to an historian. This presentation will summarize findings in psychology and the sciences to discuss the process by which memories are made, and the forces which distort these memories. Furthermore, why, despite the problems with memory, do historians still rely on it? How do oral historians use people's fallible memories as they attempt to construct an accurate view of the past?

Mark Schultz is a professor of history. His book, The Rural Face of White Supremacy; Beyond Jim Crow, was chosen as an editor's choice by Atlantic Monthly. With support from the NEH, he is currently writing a book on the history of black farm owners in the South. He is also engaged in a long-term study of the purpose and politics of education for black and white farmers in the Jim Crow South.

Additional Resources:

Lewis University Department of History