Shifting Focus: Interviewers Share Advice on Protecting Themselves from Harm

Abstract

This article offers detailed practical advice for supporting oral history interviewers’ mental and emotional well-being. It argues for new ethical standards in the field of oral history that can protect interviewers from abuse, exploitation, and harm. The guidance described has been compiled by the author from conversations, workshop discussions, and interviews with oral historians between 2014 and 2020. The article describes the unique challenges faced by oral historians in their work, outlines key structures of support to address such challenges, and concludes with applications of those support structures during design stages of a project, while a project is ongoing, and in the event of a crisis.