Can Anyone Over Thirty Be Trusted: A Friendly Critique of Oral History

It has been thirty years since Allan Nevins began the first formal oral history project at Columbia University, and the birthday cele bration of that project is probably as good a time as any to ask what has been the value of our efforts to use oral testimony to enrich the study of history and what are the problems now confronting us. It is as good a time as any because unlike the situation a few years ago we seem to be enjoying the respectability which comes with age, as well as the gnawing doubts which come with middle age. That the oral history movement has grown and is now accepted seems beyond doubt. By last count there were some 500 projects in operation and probably the same number contemplated, already fin ished or in the process of formation. The Oral History Association now boasts over 1000 members, and a few years ago the Associa tion captioned its annual colloquium as "Oral History Comes of Age." Increasingly within the academic community new courses are being announced in catalogues, and more traditional scholars are praising our work and efforts. Two years ago, Beloit College awarded a baccalaureate degree in "oral history." In short we have reached our middle years stronger and more accepted in the community than we have ever been. But just like mil lions of individuals who have passed the invisible markers of age which our culture sets before us this celebration comes with certain doubts. After thirty years are we to be trusted? What are our achievements and how can we assess them? I think that we have ac complished much, but many of our successes have brought with them some very real problems which we as oral historians must now confront. In middle age we can no longer argue that we do not have the time or cannot spare the manpower to deal with the larger his toriographical questions raised by our work. Nor can we any longer ignore these problems, because to do so may bring our very achieve ments into suspicion. We need to assess our position and to high