oral history
noun
1
: a recording containing information about the past obtained from in-depth interviews concerning personal experiences, recollections, and reflections
also
: the study of such information
2
: a written work based on oral history
oral historian
noun
Examples of oral history in a Sentence
I'm reading an oral history of the Great Depression.
Recent Examples on the Web
In a Polygon oral history of the calamity, a former marketing executive who worked on the Sonic campaign said that the balloon's design may have contributed to the mishap.
—
Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 27 Nov. 2025
Wong is best known for founding the Disability Visibility Project in 2014, an oral history project that collected the life stories of hundreds of disabled people nationwide, many of which have since been archived in the Library of Congress.
—Christopher Cann, USA Today, 17 Nov. 2025
The program in Roseville became a kind of oral history as Christiansen shared the story behind the cookbooks along with one of its editors, Marcia Copeland of Plymouth (co-editor Betsy Norum, an icon in Family and Consumer Sciences, passed away in 1994).
—Molly Guthrey, Twin Cities, 8 Nov. 2025
Incorporate oral histories, perfumer interviews, diaspora stories, scent memories — let the audience co-create.
—Sudhir Gupta, Rolling Stone, 3 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for oral history
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Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 27 Nov. 2025
Wong is best known for founding the Disability Visibility Project in 2014, an oral history project that collected the life stories of hundreds of disabled people nationwide, many of which have since been archived in the Library of Congress.
—Christopher Cann, USA Today, 17 Nov. 2025
The program in Roseville became a kind of oral history as Christiansen shared the story behind the cookbooks along with one of its editors, Marcia Copeland of Plymouth (co-editor Betsy Norum, an icon in Family and Consumer Sciences, passed away in 1994).
—Molly Guthrey, Twin Cities, 8 Nov. 2025
Incorporate oral histories, perfumer interviews, diaspora stories, scent memories — let the audience co-create.
—Sudhir Gupta, Rolling Stone, 3 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for oral history
Cite this Entry
“Oral history.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oral%20history. Accessed 4 Dec. 2025.
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