During summer 2026, I interned at the Newberry Library to work on the initiative Beyond Belief: Religion and Social Change in 1960s Chicago. I had the opportunity to work on the initiative’s oral history project, which I eagerly did. Before my internship, I had undertaken some oral history work during my own research as a PhD student at Northwestern University's Department of History, but without any formal guidance I found myself unsure whether the approach I was using was the best one. Thankfully, with some mentorship during my time at the Newberry and the opportunity to work on the Beyond Belief project, I learned how to confidently engage with oral histories as a research method and tool.
First, I learned the process of conducting oral history. To identify potential narrators—the term used to describe the individual being interviewed—I used research from Beyond Belief and the Newberry archives, as well as my own research. I cast a wide net, both because I knew that some people might be uninterested or unable to participate in the project and also because I wanted to record a variety of experiences. After arranging an interview, I reflected on the narrator’s background and used this information to draft a handful of broad questions with which to begin the conversation. I also had to mentally prepare to shed my usual introverted nature. Luckily, most people who offer to give an oral interview are eager to share their experiences and there is rarely lull in conversation. The questions I offered were open-ended to allow the narrator to lead the discussion, although sometimes if the narrator said something specific that piqued my interest I asked them to expand further on that topic.
After the interview process, we uploaded the recording, edited the transcript, and provided copies to the narrator in case they wanted to clarify anything they said. Each interview is a useful and interesting historical source in and of itself, and once Beyond Belief has conducted and processed all of the oral history project’s interviews the initiative will have a remarkable patchwork of historical retellings that bring 1960s Chicago to life.
Oral histories provide a distinctive source for researchers, uncovering unique insight into how an event affected individuals’ lives and how they interacted with historical processes. Narrators offer personalized accounts of what they remember, often detailing emotions, material conditions, and personal interactions. They bring history to life, humanizing and personalizing landmark events. Sometimes, assumptions or former research are challenged by an oral history that doesn’t fully align with what you expect to hear. This is one of the benefits of oral histories, as they demonstrate the complexities of the human condition and how we experience history. Most exciting to me, however, are the ways oral histories reveal how people understand their own place in history. They offer a way for everyday people to understand themselves participating in historical processes, as makers of history and agents of change. Oral histories elevate overlooked voices and empower narrators to see themselves as important historical agents.
I also greatly value oral histories for their accessibility. With a research topic, some preparation, a recording device, and a narrator, anyone can become an oral historian. A person could decide to collaborate with family members to record family oral histories or interview community members to capture local oral histories, for instance. Such projects could be expansive, interviewing a long list of folks, or could be concentrated on just one or two voices, depending on the boundaries of the project and narrators available.
This accessibility also means that I can continue pursuing my interest in oral history after I finish my internship at the Newberry Library. My goal is to incorporate an oral history project into the undergraduate class I’m designing at Northwestern University this year, as well as to begin an extensive oral history project as either a teacher, university faculty member, or independent scholar after receiving my doctorate degree. What this project might look like depends on where I’m located and the research project I design, based partly on that location. I see the current nebulousness of this future project as potential and possibility because wherever I go, I know there will be a story to capture and people to tell it.
Jan Michael is a a doctoral student in History at Northwestern University and a Chabraja Center Summer Intern for the Beyond Belief initiative.