Oral Histories at Wilson Special Collections Library: Southern Oral History Project

The Southern Oral History Project (SOHP) is housed within the Southern Historical Collection (SHC), which was introduced in the "Collections at Wilson Library" section. However, it is important to highlight this program as it focuses specifically on generating and preserving oral histories of life in the American South. Featured on their homepage, they quote one of their oral history participants, Nell Sigmon, "You don't have to be famous for your life to be history." This quote helps to explain oral history methodology and the work of the SOHP: documenting history across communities is the act of valuing everyone's history and the importance of a variety of life stories. SOHP specifically focuses on uncovering the breadth of lived experiences, and therefore histories, of living in the South.

"We ask questions about the American South that can only be answered through oral histories. The SOHP is committed to being a resource for anyone looking to use this original research for their own projects. Our interview database is a rich repository of accounts ranging from politicians to activists, business owners to millworkers, educators to artists."

SOHP's oral histories are part of the SHC, although the oral histories are also stored in their own database to ease searching for oral history materials. To access the oral history database, go to the SOHP Interview Database homepage. There you will see a search bar in the middle of the page that will search through the entire database of oral histories according to the entered search term. However, if you are wanting to browse through the database, there are browsing options available on the right side of the webpage.

Browsing can be done by individual preference of the listed options. Below is the page for browsing by "Project" which shows the interviews organized by the specific interviewing project title.

Once you have selected a project, you can click on the hyperlinked title to view a list of interviews conducted for that oral history project. Below is shown the "W.2. LGBTQ Life in the South: Sweet Tea Interviews by E. Patrick Johnson" project. The interviews and their information are viewable by clicking on the hyperlinks listed under the "Interview no." column.

If there is a digital file to view or listen to the oral history online, it will be included in the interview information page to which the hyperlink directs. If there is no digital file available, it will provide directions for accessing the oral history. For example, it might say under restrictions "In-library use only. Access through the Southern Historical Collection."

An example of an oral history accessible through SOHP's database website is Etta Baker's oral history conducted as part of the Southern Women: Hope and Dignity: Older Black Women of the South project. Below is the abstract on Baker's oral history and the audio recording available through SOHP's database.

"Etta Baker, known as one of the finest guitarists in the fingerpicked piedmont blues tradition, discussed her love of people, family, and music. In addressing her life, she discusses her family (including cousin Cora Phillips who was also interviewed), her marriage to Lee Baker (also a musician and popular dancer), raising nine children, and working. Although she is known primarily for her skills as a blues musician in the famous Boone family, she discusses working most of her life for Skyland Textile Company. However, her reputation as a musician remain a primary focus and includes ‘knife blues’ (playing with a jackknife blade drawn across the strings) as well as both 6- and 12-string electric guitar."