Doing Oral History will support individuals and institutions in recording, archiving, and interpreting under-documented histories in Baltimore, with a focus on the city’s Black history. Baltimore is a majority Black city with a significant African American history, yet what has been preserved and valorized has too often ignored Black voices. There is an urgent need to document these stories and incorporate them into more comprehensive narratives about our city.
The workshops, which feature a keynote by Kelly E. Navies, Museum Specialist in Oral History at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, will be led by local curators, archivists, representatives of Inheritance Baltimore, and participants of Baltimore Speaks, a network of local oral historians. Attendees will gain a working knowledge of oral history: a field of study and a method of recording, preserving, and interpreting people’s experiences of the past through the prism of the present.
Space will be limited to 35 participants for each workshop.
This series is being offered at no charge thanks to support from an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant administered by Inheritance Baltimore, the contributed labor of our core planning group, and the donated time of our workshop leaders. Participants who complete all three workshops will receive a certificate recognizing their time and labor.
April 2: Why Oral History Matters and Project Planning
Oral history as a social justice project, project design, ethical and legal issues.
Saturday, April 2, 10:30am-1:30pm
Reginald F. Lewis Museum
830 E Pratt St, Baltimore, MD 21202
Workshop facilitators:
- Hosted by: Angela Koukoui, Co-Director of JHU/UB Community Archives Program, University of Baltimore
- Kelly E. Navies, Museum Specialist in Oral History at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Tonika Berkley, Co-Director of JHU/UB Community Archives Program, Johns Hopkins University
- Debra Elfenbein, Special Collections Librarian, Enoch Pratt Free Library
April 9: The Art and Craft of Interviewing
Doing an interview–before, during, and after.
Saturday, April 9, 10:30am-1:30pm
Reginald F. Lewis Museum
830 E Pratt St, Baltimore, MD 21202
Workshop facilitators:
- Hosted by: Angela Koukoui, Co-Director of JHU/UB Community Archives Program, University of Baltimore
- Linda Shopes, Independent Oral Historian, Baltimore Speaks
- Bria Warren, Billie Holiday Center for Liberation Arts Community Archives Fellow, Baltimore Speaks
April 23: Transcribing, Archiving, and Mobilizing Oral History
Archival practices, exhibitions, publications, and community organizing.
Saturday, April 23, 10:30am-1:30pm
Eubie Blake Cultural Center
847 N Howard St, Baltimore, MD 21201
Workshop Facilitators:
- Hosted by: Angela Koukoui, Co-Director of JHU/UB Community Archives Program, University of Baltimore
- Aiden Faust, Associate Director of Special Collections and Archives, University of Baltimore
- Catherine Mayfield, Maryland Center for History and Culture, Baltimore Speaks
- Joseph Plaster, Inheritance Baltimore, Tabb Center
- Panel facilitated by Sheri Parks, MICA’s Vice President for Strategic Initiatives:
- Megan McShea, Independent Audiovisual Archivist
- Daisy Brown, The Peale’s Storytelling Ambassador
- Jodi Hoover, Digital Resources Manager, Digital Maryland
- Maria Day, Director, Special Collections & Conservation, Maryland State Archives
Doing Oral History core planning group:
- Tonika Berkley, Africana Archivist, Sheridan Library, Billie Holiday Center for Liberation Arts
- Angela Koukoui, Co-Director of JHU/UB Community Archives Program, University of Baltimore, Baltimore Speaks
- Catherine Mayfield, H. Furlong Baldwin Library, Maryland Center for History and Culture, Baltimore Speaks
- Deyane Moses, MICA and AFRO Charities, Baltimore Speaks
- Joseph Plaster, Inheritance Baltimore, Tabb Center
- Linda Shopes, Independent Oral Historian, Baltimore Speaks
- Bria Warren, Billie Holiday Center for Liberation Arts Community Archives Fellow, Baltimore Speaks
Institutional partners:
- Baltimore Speaks
- Inheritance Baltimore
- Maryland Center for History and Culture
- The Winston Tabb Special Collections Research Center
- Reginald F. Lewis Museum
- Eubie Blake Cultural Center
- University of Baltimore Special Collections
- Billie Holiday Center for Liberation Arts
