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Oral History Archives on the Internet (A select list)
February 2016
Oral histories, local histories, or people's histories are increasingly being recorded and archived all over the world as genuine sources of history (along with the 'documented' or textual sources) especially as they provide excellent sources of nuanced and personalised histories of places or groups of people. Many of these archives are now being made available on the Internet, using the best of technology of archiving and interactivity. We feature a handful of such archives or links mostly related to India or some nearby places in Asia. This sequence of this list is not in any particular order.
 Indian Memory Project
http://www.indianmemoryproject.com/
'Visual and oral history of the Indian Subcontinent via family archives' (by Memory Company)
 1947 Partition Archive
http://www.1947partitionarchive.org/
'The 1947 Partition Archive is a global movement to preserve life stories shaped by Partition'
 Oral History, Nehru Memorial Museum & Library
http://www.nehrumemorial.nic.in/en/oral-history.html
NMML has recorded the reminiscences of 1351 personalities and out of them 882 transcripts of interviews have been finalized and made available for consultation for scholars in the Reading Room of the NMML Archives.
 British Library Sounds - Oral History
http://sounds.bl.uk/oral-history
Although this collection does not directly feature any Indian recordings, but one may be able to search and find many references to Indian history in several recorded items.
National Archives of Singapore - Oral History Interviews
http://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/oral_history_interviews/
Contains interviews with several Indian migrants in Singapore.
 SAADA, South Asian American Digital Archive
https://www.saada.org/
A great source of personal histories of Indian immigrants in the America.
Oral History & Digital Archiving Certificate Course, Nepal Picture Library
http://www.nepalpicturelibrary.org/oral-history-certificate-course/
 Panjab 1947 - A Heart Divided, National Archives, UK
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/panjab1947/
The National Archives has recorded the narratives of four Panjabi elders uprooted from their homeland during the Partition of British India in 1947.
 Palestinian Oral History Archive
(American University of Beirut)
http://aub.edu.lb/ifi/programs/poha/Pages/index.aspx
The Palestinian Oral History Archive is an archival collection that contains more than 1,000 hours of testimonies with first generation Palestinians and other Palestinian communities in Lebanon
African Oral History Archive
http://www.africanoralhistory.com/
 Minnesota Immigrant Oral Histories - Asian Indian
http://collections.mnhs.org/ioh/index.php/10000905
In 2008 Minnesota was home to 28,000 Asian Indians, most of whom have immigrated to the United States since 1950 to pursue educational and employment opportunities.
South Asian Diaspora: South Asian Immigrants-Oral Hisories, NYU Library
http://guides.nyu.edu/c.php?g=276914&p=1846510
 Bangla Stories
http://www.banglastories.org/
Stories of people who left Bengal in 1947 when the state was divided into West Bengal and East Pakistan (later Bangladesh). Part of a London School of Economics/University of Cambridge project.
Center for Public History, Shrishti, Bangalore
http://srishti.ac.in/centers-and-labs/center-for-public-history
 Oral History Project - Citizens Archive of Pakistan
http://www.citizensarchive.org/projects/the-oral-history-project/
OHP concentrates on people talking about significant events in their lives during the early days of Pakistan
Centre for Community Knowledge, Ambedkar University, Delhi
http://www.aud.ac.in/academic/centres/cck
Trace - Tibetan Oral History Archive
https://www.trace.org/latse-library/oral-history-project
 Oral history collection, University of Cambridge, Centre of South Asian Studies
http://www.s-asian.cam.ac.uk/archive/audio/interviewlista.html
Contains interviews with personalities such as Khwaja Ahmed Abbas, Abid Ali, S.A.Aiyer, A.S.J.Bhagwat, and many others.
Iranian Oral History
http://www.oral-history.ir/?language=1
Contains interviews with many senior persons associated with the Iranian Revolution.
The South Asian Literary Recordings Projects (Library of Congress New Delhi office)
https://www.loc.gov/acq/ovop/delhi/salrp/
Has rare recordings of authors in Urdu, Hindi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Gujarati etc.
More archives on the March 2016 issue >>
This list is in progress. Please let us know if you know of some good Oral history archive on the Internet which concerns us and we may have missed. Please report if you find any dead links.
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