The oral tradition, also referred to as oral history, is information about the past that is transmitted from one generation or culture to another by word of mouth rather than by written record.

The oral tradition, also referred to as oral history, is information about the past that is transmitted from one generation or culture to another by word of mouth rather than by written record. The Jim Crow History.org website describes it this way: “Oral history is a way to learn about history by talking to people who lived through a particular period in time.”
The story of how your parents met or you were delivered in the hospital, for example, likely were never formally written down or published. You do not recall these events because you were not alive or too young. Yet, you generally know how these events unfolded because someone in your family who experienced these events remembered and shared them with you. History of more comprehensive events, like the civil rights movement, can also be transmitted through oral history.
1. Identify an interviewee—perhaps a family member, friend, neighbor, or co-worker—who lived during the height of the civil rights movement (1954-1976) and can remember at least some of its key people, places, events, and ideas. Stretch yourselves as a class to get a balanced range of possible backgrounds with interviewees of varying genders, ages, races, and regions, etc.
2. Once you have identified your interviewee, conduct an interview with him or her (preferably in person, but it can also be via phone or email if necessary).
Either record or take excellent notes on the interviewee’s responses so you will be able to share and analyze later in the class blog.
Interview questions to consider are below, but remember you are not limited to these questions and should alter these questions as appropriate to the interview. Ask other relevant questions while you have this rich opportunity to learn from someone who lived in the actual time period you are studying.
Gather demographic information like gender, race, and region
How old were you in 1963, the year of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech?
What is the earliest thing you remember about the civil rights movement?
What civil rights events do you remember as most important?
What do you remember about segregated schools? Did you attend one?
Did you or anyone you know participate in the civil rights movement by marching, writing letters, or in any other way?
Did the civil rights movement alter how you view segregation? In what way(s)?
As you reflect on desegregation and the civil rights movement, what positive impact do you believe this had on our country?
What things do we still need to do to promote freedom, social justice, equality, and human possibility in our nation?
Sincerely thank your interviewee for his or her time and insight.
3. Once you have conducted your oral history interview, post demographic information about your interviewee as well as what you learned and your analysis to the class blog “Unit 5 Oral History Blog on Civil Rights.”