Oral History
The ISJL's Oral History Program has already collected more than 700 audio and video interviews with Jewish Southerners from all over our region. These recordings—firsthand accounts of life stories and community histories—offer present and future users a unique resource for learning about the personalities, experiences and memories of Jews in the American South. It is an especially exciting time to be working in oral history, because even as we continue to record and preserve new histories, technological advancements are making it easier to share our materials with the public. Please take a look at the resources listed below to learn more about what we do.
To learn more about the Institute’s oral history programs, recommend a potential interviewee, or inquire about commissioning an interview with your loved one, please email jparshall@isjl.org.
To learn more about the Institute’s oral history programs, recommend a potential interviewee, or inquire about commissioning an interview with your loved one, please email jparshall@isjl.org.
Oral History Guide
The ISJL is not the only organization in the region that conducts oral history research; local projects across the South are working to document the stories of Southern Jews, often with limited funds and part-time or volunteer staff. In an effort to assist these projects we have developed the ISJL Oral History Guide.
The guide deals not only with themes specific to the Southern Jewish experience, but also provides an accessible and up-to-date introduction to more general issues surrounding oral history, particularly in the areas of technology and interview technique.
The ISJL is not the only organization in the region that conducts oral history research; local projects across the South are working to document the stories of Southern Jews, often with limited funds and part-time or volunteer staff. In an effort to assist these projects we have developed the ISJL Oral History Guide.
The guide deals not only with themes specific to the Southern Jewish experience, but also provides an accessible and up-to-date introduction to more general issues surrounding oral history, particularly in the areas of technology and interview technique.
Southern Jewish Voices
In collaboration with the Education Department, we have prepared a series of brief interview excerpts for use as a multimedia component of the ISJL Education Curriculum's Family Educational Supplement. The clips, selected to accompany a lesson on Southern Jewish history and identity, are available online as a sample of our video archives. We call the collection Southern Jewish Voices.
Katrina's Jewish Voices
The Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life has collaborated with the Jewish Women's Archive on the oral history project Katrina’s Jewish Voices, the only project focused on the Jewish experience of Hurricane Katrina. The project has conducted 90 in-depth oral history interviews with members of the New Orleans and Gulf Coast Jewish communities who were directly impacted by the storm, allowing them to serve as “historic witnesses” to a watershed event in their communal history.
The Katrina’s Jewish Voices oral history project is intended to serve as a vital resource for historians of the American Jewish experience and others interested in exploring the ways that individuals and communities responded to this vast humanitarian crisis. Check this website in the future for excerpts and clips from the KJV interviews. For more information about the project, contact jparshall@isjl.org.
In collaboration with the Education Department, we have prepared a series of brief interview excerpts for use as a multimedia component of the ISJL Education Curriculum's Family Educational Supplement. The clips, selected to accompany a lesson on Southern Jewish history and identity, are available online as a sample of our video archives. We call the collection Southern Jewish Voices.
Katrina's Jewish Voices
The Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life has collaborated with the Jewish Women's Archive on the oral history project Katrina’s Jewish Voices, the only project focused on the Jewish experience of Hurricane Katrina. The project has conducted 90 in-depth oral history interviews with members of the New Orleans and Gulf Coast Jewish communities who were directly impacted by the storm, allowing them to serve as “historic witnesses” to a watershed event in their communal history.
The Katrina’s Jewish Voices oral history project is intended to serve as a vital resource for historians of the American Jewish experience and others interested in exploring the ways that individuals and communities responded to this vast humanitarian crisis. Check this website in the future for excerpts and clips from the KJV interviews. For more information about the project, contact jparshall@isjl.org.