Southern Oral History Program

It's hard to quantify how much the Southern Oral History Program at UNC has influenced my understanding of documentary work. I fell in love with oral history in a UNC class on women's activism in the South, taught by Dr. Rachel Seidman. The Southern Oral History Program's archives are something special -- yet underappreciated and somewhat inaccessible. I love the intimacy of oral history, and I appreciate honoring the oral tradition of storytelling in the South. It's incredible to hear the wide swath of Southern voices encompassed within the archive, particularly in interviews with LGBTQ organizers in the Triangle. I've been able to compile a timeline of Triangle-area activism through oral history interviews.

However, I know that it is difficult for the average person to access materials from the Southern Oral History Program archive. Many interviews don't have accompanying transcripts, and it can be hard to find the right content using the website's search function. I'm interested in finding shorter and simpler avenues for North Carolina residents to listen to audio storytelling. The Southern Oral History Program's Soundcloud account and their short podcast, Press Record, both offer more user-friendly pathways to learn about oral history.

I particularly love the following segments from interviews with Pauli Murray, John Lewis, and Mandy Carter.