Speaking History : Oral Histories of the American Past, 1865-Present

This oral history reader, designed to supplement texts on the second half of the U.S. history survey, features the words of ordinary people who describe how they shaped, viewed, and remembered American history.

This volume of selected oral histories features the voices of Americans who lived through some of the most critical events shaping the nation''s history since the Civil War. This first-of-a-kind compilation allows students, scholars, and other readers to explore the connections and disconnections between individual stories and broader historical themes by understanding how history plays out in individual lives. Comprised of oral history interviews drawn from some of the country''s major collections, Speaking History presents a remarkable array of diverse American voices. Included here are fascinating, often moving accounts of everything from slavery to protest movements, world wars to work and leisure, forming a detailed mosaic of American life in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Supplemented with valuable historical context, this book demonstrates how oral history interviews can bring the past to life by linking individual experiences to larger historical narratives.