Oral history statistics show both the scale of preserved testimony and the people who make that work possible. Major collections range from dozens of institutional interviews to more than 110,000 veteran recollections, while workforce surveys describe a field that is often distributed across multiple jobs and institutions.
Contents
- How large are major oral history collections?
- What subjects and places do projects document?
- How have institutional programs developed?
- What do worker experience and workload statistics show?
- Who works in oral history, and where?
- What do workforce and professional-activity statistics show?
How large are major oral history collections?
Large oral history repositories have grown through different collection models: military recollections, public interviews, staff histories, and records-management databases. The Library of Congress reported that the Veterans History Project collected more than 6,400 personal recollections during fiscal 2010, bringing its total to 73,700 personal recollections in that fiscal year. More than 8,000 Veterans History Project collections were accessible on its website at the time. Library of Congress, Annual Report of the Library of Congress, Fiscal Year 2010
StoryCorps added more than 8,800 interview audio files during fiscal 2010. Its collection held more than 33,000 audio interview files at the Library of Congress in that period. By January-February 2014, more than 45,000 StoryCorps audio interviews were housed there. Library of Congress, Annual Report of the Library of Congress, Fiscal Year 2010; Library of Congress Magazine, January/February 2014
The Veterans History Project later reported archived firsthand recollections from more than 110,000 U.S. military veterans by 2020. This later figure is not a restatement of the fiscal 2010 total; it describes the collection at a different measurement date. Library of Congress Magazine, July/August 2020
Other repositories are smaller but still substantial. The NOAA Oral Histories Archives Database held approximately 739 entries contributed by NOAA staff and approximately 1,661 entries from external contributors at approval on April 8, 2024. Those figures describe database entries by contributor category, not necessarily unique people or complete interviews. National Archives, NOAA Oral Histories Archives Database
| Collection or program | Reported scale | Measurement period |
|---|---|---|
| Veterans History Project | More than 110,000 recollections | 2020 |
| StoryCorps at the Library of Congress | More than 45,000 audio interviews | January-February 2014 |
| NOAA staff-contributed database entries | Approximately 739 | April 8, 2024 |
| NOAA external-contributor entries | Approximately 1,661 | April 8, 2024 |
| National Archives Legacy Project | Nearly 40 staff members interviewed | 2005-2014 |
What subjects and places do projects document?
StoryCorps’ early-2014 subject counts show how oral history can organize everyday life as well as public events. The project reported almost 10,000 interviews about music, more than 6,000 about food, and an additional 6,000 about immigration. It identified relationships with parents, children, and siblings as its three top topics. These categories overlap in meaning and should not be treated as a single mutually exclusive classification. Library of Congress Magazine, January/February 2014
Geographic reach has also been a deliberate feature of major projects. StoryCorps began a year-long national tour in 2005 that reached 45 U.S. cities. During fiscal 2010, its Historias mobile booth collected Latino and Latina narratives in 20 U.S. cities and Puerto Rico. Library of Congress Magazine, January/February 2014; Library of Congress, Annual Report of the Library of Congress, Fiscal Year 2010
Earlier federal work offers a different historical scale. The Federal Writers’ Project recorded more than 10,000 life stories across occupations and ethnic groups during 1936-1940. The collection’s breadth reflects a broad life-story program rather than a single subject archive. Library of Congress Magazine, January/February 2014
The geographic and social range is not limited to the United States. The Hall-Carpenter Oral History Project contains over 100 interviews with gay and lesbian people in Britain, collected from 1985 into the early 1990s. The British Library’s HIV/AIDS Testimonies collection recorded 30 life-story interviews between 1995 and 2000. British Library, “Putting ‘AIDS: The Unheard Tapes’ in context”
The South Asian Britain oral-history hub includes clips from 30 project interviews. Its interviewees ranged from their 20s to their 90s. The project page does not state a recording year, so these figures describe an undated project collection rather than a dated annual total. British Library, “South Asian Britain: Connecting Histories”
How have institutional programs developed?
National Archives oral history provides a useful sequence of institutional milestones. The first large-scale National Archives oral history project produced 15 completed interviews about the agency’s formative years during 1971-1973. Rod Ross completed 22 interviews for a General Services Administration-era oral history effort during 1984-1985. National Archives, “Building on a Tradition of Oral History”
The National Archives History Office later collected more than 30 staff interviews during its first three years of operation, reported in 2016, approximately 2013-2016. The National Archives Legacy Project also collected interviews from nearly 40 NARA staff members during 2005-2014. These counts refer to specific institutional efforts and should not be added as one undifferentiated archive total. National Archives, “Building on a Tradition of Oral History”
| Institutional project | Reported interviews or entries | Period |
|---|---|---|
| First large-scale National Archives project | 15 completed interviews | 1971-1973 |
| General Services Administration-era effort | 22 interviews | 1984-1985 |
| National Archives History Office, first three years | More than 30 staff interviews | Approximately 2013-2016 |
| National Archives Legacy Project | Nearly 40 NARA staff members interviewed | 2005-2014 |
| British Library HIV/AIDS Testimonies | 30 life-story interviews | 1995-2000 |
What do worker experience and workload statistics show?
The 2023 oral history worker survey describes respondents’ professional experience, not the entire oral-history field. The largest experience group, 10-20 years, accounted for 31.6% of respondents. Another 27.2% reported 5-10 years, 16.7% reported 2-5 years, 15.8% reported more than 20 years, and 8.8% reported 1-2 years. Oral History Association, Oral History Worker Survey – Results & Recommendations
The job-count figures suggest that oral history work is frequently combined with other employment. In the same survey, 32.5% reported one current job, 18.4% reported two, and 18.4% reported three. A further 12.3% reported four to six current jobs, while 2.6% reported nine or more. The supplied survey categories do not provide a complete distribution for every possible job count, so these percentages should be read as reported categories rather than reconstructed totals. Oral History Association, Oral History Worker Survey – Results & Recommendations
Who works in oral history, and where?
Among 2023 survey respondents, 36.7% were based in the U.S. Northeast, 20.0% in the U.S. Southeast, 15.0% in the U.S. West, 11.7% in the U.S. Midwest, and 6.7% in the U.S. Southwest. These are respondent shares and do not measure the geographic distribution of every oral-history worker. Oral History Association, Oral History Worker Survey – Results & Recommendations
The survey identified 75.4% of respondents as White and 22.4% as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. It identified 74.6% as female, 17.5% as male, and 7.0% as non-binary. Because the supplied results use these labels and percentages, they are retained as reported rather than converted into assumptions about the field as a whole. Oral History Association, Oral History Worker Survey – Results & Recommendations
Age distribution was concentrated in the middle of the reported range. People ages 35-46 were the largest group at 43.3% of respondents, followed by ages 23-34 at 29.9%. Ages 59-70 represented 10.3%, ages 47-58 represented 8.2%, and ages 71-82 represented 7.2%. Oral History Association, Oral History Worker Survey – Results & Recommendations
What do workforce and professional-activity statistics show?
Personal circumstances and workplace conditions are also part of the 2023 survey picture. A reported 61.4% of participants had no dependents, 21.9% had one dependent, and 15.8% had two to four dependents. Workplace discrimination or bad treatment was reported by 26.3% of participants. These measurements describe survey participants in 2023 and do not establish a prevalence rate for all oral-history workers. Oral History Association, Oral History Worker Survey – Results & Recommendations
The 1983 Oral History Association member survey provides a historical comparison of professional activity. College faculty members made up 29.2% of respondents. In that survey, 51.3% joined the association to obtain its publications; 68.4% had directed an oral history project or program; and 32.4% had published at least one article or book in the field. Oral History Association, Oral History, Fall 1983 Newsletter
Time allocation varied considerably. In 1983, 38.0% devoted 0-10% of their total work time to oral history activity, while 10.6% devoted more than 90%. The results therefore include people for whom oral history was a small part of a broader role as well as people whose work was almost entirely oral history. Oral History Association, Oral History, Fall 1983 Newsletter
The 1983 salary survey reported nominal dollars of that period and was not inflation-adjusted. Among OHA individual members, 21.7% reported annual pay under $15,000; 13.3% reported $15,000-$19,999; 30.7% reported $20,000-$29,999; 22.0% reported $30,000-$39,999; and 7.1% reported $40,000-$49,999. These historical salary bands should not be compared directly with current wages without an inflation adjustment that is not provided here. Oral History Association, Oral History, Fall 1983 Newsletter