Center for Oral History
Celebrating Community Knowledge for Social Change
The Center for Oral History (COH), in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, collects, documents, preserves and highlights the recollections of Native Hawaiians and the multi-ethnic people of Hawaiʻi. It produces oral histories and interpretive historical materials about lifeways, key historic events, social movements and Hawaiʻi’s role in the globalizing world, for the widest possible use.
COH was first established in 1976 by the Hawaiʻi State Legislature as a part of the Social Science Research Institute in the College of Social Sciences at UH Mānoa. COH also develops books, articles, podcasts, and videos based on oral histories, serves as a resource center for oral history materials, and trains groups and individuals in oral history research.
Oral Histories:
Communities · Ethnic Groups · Government · Historical Events · Individual Lives · Occupations · COH Sponsored Community-Initiated Oral History Projects
Next Thursday (3/4) join us for our Weaving Voices public program, "Visionary Women in Politics and Education" featuring panelists Dawn Ige and Pilialoha Lee Loy from 5:30-6:30 pm HST. Register in advance: https://t.co/rtSncRmyTK
Our Weaving Voices podcast on Waialua and changes on Oʻahu's North Shore is on YouTube!
https://t.co/woZAzLh6Zj
Join us on 10/20 at 5:30pm HST for our next Weaving Voices program: Looking to Our Past for New Political Visions. We will be sharing oral histories from our political history project. RSVP here: https://t.co/uBquv1Sj7o
It's #nationalpodcastday! The first podcast in our new Weaving Voices series highlights the important community role of Pālama Settlement. Stream it here: https://t.co/YIVyNeuLCs
Mahalo for the overwhelming concern about Ethnic Studies (& Women Studies) future. The recommendations so far are vague: it will not dissolve ES but would result in loss of autonomy, decrease in majors and no cost saving. We have demanded the proposal’s withdrawal--more to come!
Brown Bag Biography is back! We can’t wait to see you all this semester (via Zoom) at these exciting events, starting with Nandita Sharma’s talk on September 24 (just about two weeks away!).
Join us Wednesday, August 26 at 4pm as we launch our newest public program and podcast series Weaving Voices. This first program will explore themes of resilience and recovery, featuring excerpts from our oral history project on Pālama Settlement.
RSVP: https://t.co/Vm7D7WeDpB
Mahalo to @DenbyFawcett and @CivilBeat for featuring this story about our efforts with the Hawai'i State Archives to collect oral histories and other documentation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic!
#Opinion: The #Hawaii State Archives is collecting personal stories, photos and artifacts of life in the time of #COVID19. https://t.co/5MSLDhgA5f @DenbyFawcett #HInews
What a beautiful story! Mahalo nui for letting us interview your son and for sharing your experience 🥰
My son did his interview @UHMCOH. A question asked of him was about what he's been doing at home with Mommy. He responded that we've been listening to music and dancing. What is 1 of the songs? He put on Hawai'i Loa and sang during his #oralhistory #COVID19. We cried #alohaaina✊🏾 https://t.co/w2kHP0fooZ
Our Director received an honorary doctorate for her amazing work! 👏

Davianna Pōmaikaʻi McGregor is one of 11 international winners in 2020 of the Honoris Causa Doctorate, which recognizes people “who do remarkable and exemplary things” in Laval University’s fields of endeavor ➡️ https://t.co/T6hb4RMFbP #FacesOfManoa @uhm_es @CSS_UHManoa @UHMCOH
We want to bring attention to Paul Ortiz's 2016 talk "#OralHistory in the Age of #BlackLivesMatter". As communities around the country fight racial injustice, we must ask ourselves what role(s) can oral history & storytelling play in such a crisis era? https://t.co/Nwd2y8u10W
OHA’s Statement on the Killing of George Floyd and Solidarity with Black Lives Matter:

OHA Statement on the Killing of George Floyd and Solidarity with Black Lives Matter
June 5, 2020 On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was killed by a member of the Minneapolis Police Department. Follow...
www.oralhistory.org