Oral history is a practice of recording and archiving speech for posterity, often employed when histories are at risk of being lost or forgotten, or as a way of strengthening community bonds (see Afful, Peterson and Gerber). In an academic context, this methodology prioritizes oral speech to preserve the speaker’s intent and identity, and for its ease of use and accessibility. Employed across many cultural practices of storytelling and song, oral histories long predate their formal definition within academic practice.