NORTHWEST ORAL HISTORY ASSOCIATION
Mission Statement
The Northwest Oral History Association is a regional organization of oral historians, users of oral histories, and others interested in the collection and preservation of historically significant memories through recorded interviews. NOHA's focus is Pacific Northwest history, including Alaska, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. NOHA holds an annual spring conference to advance professional development and networking among oral historians throughout the region.
Membership:
Membership in NOHA is open to anyone with an interest in oral history for
the Northwest region. Benefits include the NOHA newsletter, published twice
each year, as well as conferences, scholarship opportunities, and, most
importantly, the chance to share information and ideas with other oral
history practitioners from around the region.
To join or renew, please mail your payment to Al Chickering, NOHA Treasurer,
1916 Orange St., #B, Olympia, Washington, 98501-3074.
Please fill out the
membership form or send us a letter including your name, mailing
address, telephone, fax, E-mail address and any institutional affiliation.
Annual dues are $15 for individuals and $20 for institutions such as
historical societies, museums and libraries. Please make checks payable to
the Northwest Oral History Association.
Annual dues for institutions such as historical societies, museums and libraries are $20.
Secretary: Teresa Bergen teresatranscribes@yahoo.com
Treasurer: Al Chickering dancingelves@juno.com
General Information:
Do you have a question about oral history or about NOHA? Email an oral historian here.
psu20610@pdx.edu .
Annual Meeting Extravaganza!
From April 15th-18th, 2009, the Northwest Oral History Association will rendezvous with other heritage groups throughout the region for its annual meeting. The Northwest History and Heritage Extravaganza will be held in Portland, Oregon, and will bring together a number of organizations, including the Pacific Northwest History Conference, the Northwest Archivists, and the Oregon Heritage Commission. The emphasis will be on interdisciplinary sharing of information and skills and will offer an incredible opportunity to join with others interested in interpreting and preserving the history of the Northwest.
NOHA members will have an array of sessions to attend as well as several workshops that will focus specifically on oral history issues. NOHA will sponsor an all-day workshop on oral history basics that will be offered by Donna Sinclair of the Center for Columbia River History and Sharon Boswell, historian for Northwest Archaeological Associates and NOHA's current president. A second workshop, sponsored by the Northwest Archivists, will feature Fred Calabretta, the curator of oral history for Mystic Seaport in Connecticut, who will offer a full-day presentation on using oral history in exhibits, publications and on the internet.
You can also showcase your own innovative ways of using oral history at the digital poster session that will be held on Saturday, April 18th. Great speakers and the opportunity to visit historic sites and go behind the scenes at local heritage organizations are other features of this amazing program. Please click this link to the conference website and sign up now. Please check back often, as more details about the program and ways you can become involved will be posted. It should be the best NOHA meeting yet!
Conference Scholarship
Information
Do you want to attend the annual Northwest Oral History Association
meeting, but find your organization's travel funds have been cut? Or is
there a special workshop that doesn't fit into your budget? NOHA would
like to help. The organization is offering a limited amount of scholarship
assistance to members who would like to attend the Northwest History and
Heritage Extravaganza in Portland, Oregon, from April 15 to 18, 2009.
Time is short, so if you are interested, please email or send a letter of
application to the Board of Directors of the Northwest Oral History
Association. Your letter should include contact information, your
institutional affiliation or particular interest in oral history, and a
brief paragraph explaining your financial needs and what benefits you or
your community would receive from your attendance at the conference.
Requests cannot exceed $150 and must be received by Friday, April 3, 2007.
They should be sent to
saboswell@msn.com or to the following address: Sharon Boswell, 950 NW
Elford Drive, Seattle, Washington 98177. NOHA board members will evaluate
the applications and notify applicants of their decisions promptly.
NOHA Sponsors Workshop at National Conference
All of us in the Pacific Northwest will have the opportunity to attend
this country's largest national history conference when the Organization
of American Historians meets in Seattle from March 26-29th of 2009. This
year the program will include an oral history workshop that will provide
basic training as well as presentations from our region's best oral
history programs. The Northwest Oral History Association has joined with
the National Council on Public History and the Organization of American
Historians to sponsor this workshop, which should be a fantastic
opportunity for anyone who wants to learn oral history technique, brush up
on their skills or gain new perspectives on how to use oral history in
public projects and in the classroom.
The workshop is being held on Saturday, March 28th, and will offer both
half- and full-day options. From 8:00 to 12:00 is an introduction to oral
history methodology and interpretation presented by Donna Sinclair and
Sherry Boswell of NOHA. Participants in the afternoon will be able to
choose from two tracks: oral history for the public and oral history for
classroom use. These sessions will showcase some of the Northwest's most
innovative projects. Presenters include Trevor Griffey, University of
Washington; Tom Ikeda, the Densho Project; Lorraine McConaghy, Museum of
History and Industry, and Will Schneider, University of Alaska, Fairbanks,
who will describe the use of oral history in some of their public
programs. Among those discussing model classroom projects are Barb Amarok,
University of Alaska, Fairbanks; Donna Sinclair, Center for Columbia River
History, and Ted Whitesell, Evergreen State College.
Registration for the full-day workshop is only $50 and includes lunch. The
cost of attending either the morning or one of the afternoon sessions is
$30. Check out the
OAH website for a full description of the workshop as well as a
listing of the incredible selection of sessions, speakers and tours being
offered during this event. Register now and don't miss the opportunity to
rub elbows with some of the country's best historians and see how oral
history is being used in exemplary projects.
Send Us News
If you are involved in a new project or have suggestions for oral history
topics that you would like to learn more about, please contact NOHA
newsletter editor Eliza Canty-Jones. The deadline is approaching for the
next edition of the newsletter, which will be coming out in March, and we
need your input. Contact Eliza
at the Oregon Historical Society with your articles or ideas.
NOHA Officers
If you are interested in becoming more involved in NOHA and helping to
keep the organization vibrant and responsive to the needs of its members,
please consider being an officer. We are looking for new people to serve
in NOHA leadership. Please get in touch with
Sharon Boswell at if you are
interested.
Useful Oral History Links:
