Electronic Currents

The Iowa Labor History Oral Project: Managing Oral History Projects in the Digital Age

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Abstract

In the 1970s, leaders of the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, joined the rush of scholars, archivists, and everyday people into the burgeoning field of oral history. Like so many people then and since, they were excited by oral history’s potential to document the lives of working-class people in ways previously extended only to the wealthy, politically connected, or producers of high culture. Today, the project they started—the Iowa Labor History Oral Project (ILHOP)—contains almost 1,500 interviews and counting, making it arguably the largest and longest-running worker-focused oral history project in the United States (and perhaps the world). Although ILHOP has changed considerably over the last 40 years, the project has retained a commitment to the long-term preservation of and access to specifically working-class stories as it has adapted to the challenges and opportunities of digital preservation, access, and workflows.

How to Cite:

McKerley, J. & Baumgartner, J., (2020) “The Iowa Labor History Oral Project: Managing Oral History Projects in the Digital Age”, MAC Newsletter 48(1), 20-22.