Historian's Toolkit

Ethical Considerations in Collecting Oral Testimonies

Oral history offers a powerful avenue for capturing lived experiences that often go unrecorded in written sources. It gives voice to individuals whose stories illuminate the past from the ground up—be they war veterans, factory workers, displaced persons, or everyday witnesses of historical events. But with this power comes responsibility.

Collecting oral testimonies is not just a matter of asking questions and recording answers. It is a deeply relational and ethical process that involves navigating issues of consent, representation, privacy, emotional safety, and long-term use of the material. Unlike archival research or secondary analysis, oral history involves direct human interaction—and this requires rigorous ethical reflection and practice.

Why Ethics Matter in Oral History

The Uniqueness of Oral History

Oral history is interpersonal and often intimate. The interviewer is not merely extracting information but facilitating memory—sometimes of deeply painful or personal experiences. Unlike a document in an archive, a human narrator can be harmed, retraumatized, or misrepresented if the process is mishandled.

Trust, Power, and Responsibility

• The interviewer holds positional power: deciding what to ask, how to interpret, and how to use the testimony.
• The narrator is vulnerable, sharing personal truths in the hope of being heard and understood.
• The public becomes a third party, potentially hearing the story in contexts the narrator never imagined.

Ethics help balance this dynamic, ensuring that trust is honored and rights are protected.

Core Ethical Principles in Oral Testimony Collection

1. Informed Consent

Informed consent means more than a signed form—it is an ongoing, mutual understanding about what participation involves.

Best Practices:

1. Clearly explain the purpose, process, and potential uses of the interview.

2. Outline where and how the recording will be stored, accessed, and possibly published.

3. Offer narrators the right to:

• Review or withdraw their testimony
• Anonymize or restrict access to their story
• Decline to answer any question

Tool:

Use a flexible informed consent template with options for varying levels of access. See templates by Oral History Association (OHA) or UK Data Service.

2. Emotional and Psychological Care

Memory can be emotionally taxing. Discussing war, loss, trauma, or injustice may cause distress for the narrator.

Best Practices:

• Check in with the interviewee before, during, and after the session.
• Allow pauses, breaks, or early endings without judgment.
• Be trained in trauma-informed interviewing if working with vulnerable groups (e.g., refugees, survivors of violence).
• Know how to refer participants to support services if needed.

Real-life Example:

When conducting interviews with Holocaust survivors, researchers from the USC Shoah Foundation provided psychological support staff during sessions and follow-ups.

3. Representation and Interpretation

Historians must accurately and respectfully interpret oral narratives, avoiding distortion or selective editing that misrepresents the speaker’s voice.

Best Practices:

• Transcribe interviews with care, noting pauses, emotion, and nonverbal cues.
• Use inclusive and non-stigmatizing language when paraphrasing or analyzing.
• Engage the narrator in reviewing transcripts or final drafts when possible.

Example:

In the “Voices of the Dust Bowl” project, Library of Congress editors included narrator feedback in the editing process to ensure fidelity.

4. Cultural Sensitivity and Positional Awareness

Understanding the cultural, social, and political background of the narrator is key to respectful interviewing.

Best Practices:

• Study the community’s history, customs, and language.
• Be aware of your own identity and positionality (race, class, nationality, gender) and how it might influence the interview dynamic.
• Use appropriate greetings, body language, and forms of address.

Use Case:

When working with Indigenous communities, many oral historians follow tribal protocols, including seeking permission from elders or councils, not just individuals.

5. Ownership and Intellectual Property

Who owns an oral testimony? Who has the right to use it, quote it, or publish it?

Best Practices:

• Clarify copyright and usage rights during the consent process.
• Consider shared authorship models, especially in community-based research.
• Honor requests to embargo, limit, or redact recordings as needed.

Resource Tip:

Refer to Creative Commons licensing options that allow narrators to retain rights while permitting certain types of use.

Practical Steps to Ethical Interviewing

Before the Interview

• Research your narrator’s background and the broader historical context.
• Prepare open-ended, non-leading questions.
• Discuss the purpose, expectations, and consent terms in advance.
• Secure recording equipment and test it beforehand.

During the Interview

• Begin with casual conversation to build rapport.
• Obtain verbal or written consent before starting.
• Listen actively and avoid interrupting emotional moments.
• Monitor emotional cues and check in as needed.
• Maintain a nonjudgmental presence.

After the Interview

• Offer the narrator a copy of the recording and transcript.
• Follow up with a thank-you and ask about the experience.
• Allow the narrator to review and amend their testimony if requested.
• Store materials securely and in accordance with consent agreements.

Tools and Resources for Ethical Oral History

Oral History Association (OHA): Best practice guidelines and sample documents

Baylor University’s Institute for Oral History: Practical manuals and ethical checklists

UK Data Service Ethics Guide: Consent, confidentiality, and data protection standards

StoryCorps DIY: Tools for community-based oral history and ethical storytelling

Real-World Example – “Voices from the Pandemic”

During the COVID-19 crisis, NPR’s “Voices from the Pandemic” series gathered oral testimonies from frontline workers, patients, and families. The project:

• Prioritized emotional sensitivity in interviews.
• Used clear, revisable consent forms.
• Provided narrators the chance to approve final versions before air.
• Preserved stories in a national digital archive.

This model showcases how ethical oral history can preserve human experience in real time, without sacrificing dignity or accuracy.

Conclusion

Ethics in oral testimony collection is not a checklist—it’s a mindset of respect, responsibility, and humility. Whether you’re documenting the memories of an elder, collecting stories of political upheaval, or interviewing survivors of crisis, the ethical choices you make define the integrity of your project.

As oral historians, we don’t just record the past—we share in it. And how we handle that sharing determines whether we build trust, preserve truth, and do justice to the voices entrusted to us.