Blog

Human Face of Global Economy

A review of: Invisible Hands: Voices From the Global Economy
Compiled and edited by Corinne Goria
Voice of Witness, McSweeny's Books, 2014

This new and completely engrossing book of oral history testimonials by workers in factories and fields all over the world is a welcome addition to the Voice of Witness series. Oral history is always about contributing to the historical record, creating historical narratives, from the ground up and the people at McSweeny's Voice of Witness project make it their mission to give voice to the marginalized and silenced people of the world. This in itself is a powerful human rights accomplishment.  For full story click here.

StoryCorps – Gay America

David Isay, the founder of the nonprofit oral history group StoryCorps, tried for many years with little success to raise money for a project to collect stories from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning community. When his father died two years ago on the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall riots, he decided the project would proceed, with money or not.  For full story, click here.

Mary River Oral History

A co-operative effort between the Mary River Catchment Co-ordinating Committee and Luke Barrowcliff's Goorie Vision under the Caring for Country banner has collated a vast array of information on the history of the Mary River catchment. Dr Tanzi Smith and Mr Barrowcliffe co-ordinated the project which involved travelling to different locations throughout the catchment and filming, listening and interviewing residents of that area. For full story click here.

Greenwich Village Oral History Project

Storytellers and interviewers in an ambitious oral history project came together last month at Jefferson Market Library to celebrate their effort to preserve the past. For five months, volunteers worked to record neighborhood tales from people who have lived, worked or spent more than 20 years in the area for “Your Village, Your Story: A Greenwich Village Oral History Project.” Successfully archived, the stories are now accessible online. For full story click here and to listen to the interviews click here.

Gibraltar Oral History

The Chief Minister was in London on Thursday 15 May where he received, on behalf of the People of Gibraltar, an important new historical archive recording the years 1930 to 1970, a formative period in the modern history of Gibraltar. For full story click here.

Greek Proxy Brides Project

Dr Panayota Nazou's Proxy Brides: Experiences and Testimonies of Greek Women in Australia (1950-1971) was launched in Sydney, with more than 200 people attending, including some of the 'proxy brides' whose personal accounts contributed to the writing of the book. For full story click here.

Boston College Project – arrest of Gerry Adams

There has been a lot in the news this week about the arrest of Gerry Adams as a result of disclosures in the Boston College Project.  This project interviewed both sides of the conflict in Ireland during what some call "The Troubles".  Here is a list of articles including an ABC radio interview which will give you a good picture showing what has happened and why:

Belfast Project

Boston Tapes

BC's Oral History

ABC radio interview with Ed Moloney

Lessons Learned – transcript of web chat

Gerry Adams' arrest threatens peace

Oral History can survive Boston College issue

Police Seek All the Belfast Project Tapes