Quaker Oral Histories

What are Oral Histories?

Oral Historians, appointed by Yearly Meeting, record interviews with selected Quakers. 

The selection of the Friends to be interviewed and the number and spread of interviews is made by the oral historian, who seeks advice from Monthly Meetings and Worship Groups as appropriate (and receives suggestions from the same). The current policy is to interview Friends whose present or past contributions to society have been influenced by their Quaker commitments. Those interviewed may be of any age, though there has usually been a weighting towards older Friends whose stories should not be lost. There is also a case for interviewing younger Friends who might be re-interviewed later in their lives. Contact the Oral Historians for further information or interviewee suggestions: oral-historian@ym.quakers.nz

The full list of those Friends interviewed so far is given here. The recordings are available through Turnbull Library, Yearly Meeting Library and Resource Centre and some Monthly Meeting libraries.

Some of these recordings are subject to access restrictions detailed in the recording agreement signed with the interviewee. 

There are no transcripts. Abstracts are available from oral-historian@ym.quakers.nz.  

The Interview Process

There is a full description of the process of doing an oral history in the Oral Historian job description.

The recording agreement is a legal document which sets out the conditions on which recordings and files can be accessed. The agreement is made with the interviewee. The example template given shows the various ways an agreement can be varied to suit the wishes of the interviewee. The agreement gives interviewees total control over what happens to their interviews.