“I Hope to be Part of South Phoenix History”: Community College Students Becoming Oral Historians

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper discusses community college students’ responses to an oral history project about their own community, based in South Phoenix, Arizona. The South Phoenix Oral History (SPOH) Project is a research initiative operated by students, the vast majority of whom call South Phoenix home. Students take part in recording, processing, and analyzing their hometown history, making coauthorship a built-in feature of the project. Research shows that oral history teaches students to do research and to do history, but can academy-based projects have a positive impact on community interests? What do students learn through oral history besides research skills? To conduct this study, I analyzed data from seventy-three student reflections dating from fall 2018 to spring 2021. The reflections illuminate how students become more aware of their role in creating historical narratives and deepen their bond with their own community and its history. I argue that oral history projects, such as the SPOH Project, which implement a shared authority method, can productively combine community interests with academic research. By giving their contribution to the collection, students deepened their connection and sense of responsibility to South Phoenix and its history.