NOAA Voices Oral History Archives: Listening and Learning Across Scale and Context

Since 2003, the NOAA Voices Oral History Archives has been dedicated to collecting, preserving, and sharing oral histories that capture human experiences related to climate change, oceans, and coasts. While initially focused on fisheries and coasts, over the last few years, the archive has expanded to connect to the full range of the NOAA mission. Voices currently houses over 2,500 oral histories from across the United States, documenting diverse communities, topics, regions, and phenomena. These interviews are co-produced and contributed to NOAA in collaboration with independent researchers, students, scholars, historical societies, museums, academic institutions, federal agencies and other partners. Each interview enriches the collection, expanding its breadth and diversity. The NOAA Voices team meticulously reviews, catalogs, and preserves these materials in a publicly accessible, searchable database, making them available to scholars, students, and the general public. Additionally, the Voices team provides guidance and support to prospective practitioners, promoting high-quality, professional, and ethical oral history practices. NOAA Voices is widely recognized as a unique and valuable source of social, cultural, and environmental data. We also work with the NOAA National Center for Environmental Information to archive all materials for long term preservation.

These oral histories, whether listened to as stand alone experiences or when analyzed collectively, offer profound insights and value. They foster understanding, empathy, and awareness by allowing us to listen deeply to diverse perspectives. These interviews are frequently used and cited in scholarly research, articles, documentaries, exhibits, educational and outreach materials, institutional memory projects, impact assessments, and other scholarly endeavors. In our presentation, we will explore the uniqueness and power of oral history as both a method of inquiry and a source of data. We will discuss the value and relevance of oral history to NOAA's mission and share our collection priorities, challenges, and opportunities as we strive to expand and diversify the archive's scope and relevance for researchers, educators, and the general public. Finally, we will highlight how oral history research complements other types of information and data produced by NOAA, enhancing public safety, knowledge, and connectivity.