For decades, historians and archives across the United States have worked to preserve the stories of everyday American workers. Yet as the country has de-industrialized, historians have been forced to reconsider what it means to preserve workers’ stories.

The Outdoor Recreation Workers Oral History Project builds on previous endeavors that documented miners, loggers, ranchers, and farmers in the American West. In the West’s mountains and along its rivers, in its canyons and on its coasts, industries centered around skiing, rafting, climbing, surfing, mountain biking, hunting, and sport fishing have become increasingly important. In many tourist communities, workers adapted to the decline of older industries while new workers moved into rapidly growing towns.

The Outdoor Recreation Workers Oral History Project seeks to record these stories—perhaps your stories—and preserve them for future generations.

If you are interested in participating, please contact me at jesse.ritner@gcsu.edu. Don’t be shy! We want to talk to you!

Why do we need this project?

Americans who work for a living are too often forgotten. Workers rarely write memoirs, are underrepresented in the media, and are unlikely to leave behind extensive paper trails in archives. Yet there are far more people working in the outdoor recreation industry than there are world-famous athletes, cultural icons, ski resort owners, or industry executives.

We want to preserve these underappreciated stories. In other words, if you work in the industry, we want to hear from you. Your story, your life, your experiences, and your memories are the raw material of history.

What is an oral history?

Oral history is a unique sub-field of history. To borrow from the Oral History Association, oral historians work to “gather, preserve, and interpret the voices and memories of people, communities, and participants in past events.”

Oral histories are not journalistic interviews. They do not necessarily focus on singular events, nor are they conducted solely to produce a specific story. While historians may use these interviews in future research, the primary purpose of oral history is to record and preserve life stories from beginning to end.

Where will these interviews end up?

This project is being conducted in conjunction with the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at Brigham Young University. The interviews will become part of the larger Charles Redd Center for Western Studies Oral History Project, which documents and preserves the everyday stories of the American West.

Recordings and transcripts of the interviews will be preserved in the Brigham Young University Special Collections.

More information about me!

For more information, please visit my homepage.