Meaning and Memory

Abstract

Initiated in the 1970’s, the Appalachian Oral History Project contains thousands of oral histories collected from residents of the Central Appalachian region. A significant portion of these oral histories were conducted with Black residents of the region, thus serving as a repository of voices long left unheard in the dominant historical narrative. Like many such collections, the audio cassettes were left to gather dust for decades. A project has recently begun to digitize and preserve all of the oral histories. What do the oral histories in the AOHP collection have to say to us today about both Black identity in Central Appalachia and the use of oral history to confront questions of place and identity? More importantly, how do contemporary Black residents in one of the same communities in which the oral histories were originally conducted wish to respond to the recorded interviews? Digital recordings were played for Black residents of the same community from which many of the original oral histories were collected in order to foster conversation and dialogue about the material. Using ethnographic methods, this research illustrates the ways new forms of archival work and historical scholarship provide a crucial opportunity to enhance what we know of place and identity and allows for stories to be reclaimed by the people and communities from which they came. Within these intersections of theory, method, and discipline is found space for information science research to push beyond traditional boundaries and that wholly embrace the political and the fight for social justice.