ORAL HISTORY PROGRAM

Special Collections has an active oral history program.  We are continuously engaged in collecting oral histories from individuals in the local community and in the Western North Carolina region.  We are also interested in gathering into our holdings oral histories that have been initiated by individuals who may not be on our staff, within the university, or connected to the university.  Oral histories constitute some of the most immediate and fist-hand  accounts of the events and people who make up our community and we have found that the community at large is often the best identifier of individuals and stories that need to be collected. Or, if you have a particular interest in gathering specific histories, you may plan and gather a thematic series that would add to our instructional resources and provide a framework for students in our public schools classes. Oral histories can build on our other collections and often contain a wealth of local history and cultural information on Asheville and the Western North Carolina region that is difficult to capture in a photograph or in the documents contained in our manuscript collections.

If you are interested in contributing to our collections or in gathering an oral history that you would like to have considered for inclusion in our holding, please contact Special Collections or follow the guidelines suggested below and, very important, --- complete all the necessary permissions and releases BEFORE commencing the oral history.  We cannot accept oral histories without a signed release.

Ongoing Efforts

The Ramsey Library oral history repository continues to grow as local residents gain an interest in either gathering oral histories or contributing their stories to the ongoing narrative of the region. As we try to make these collections available online, the process of  transcribing many of the tapes has only just begun. Meanwhile, we are also working with mp3s to add an audio component to the finding aids. Special Collections has a number of interns and volunteers that work with the archive throughout the year. As we continue to process these oral history collections, additional information will be added to this site and its accompanying finding aids.

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