Nurses training at the Waikato Hospital
HCL historic photos, no. 10476.
Oral Histories
For centuries history was passed down by word of mouth, but with the development of writing in many civilisations, people came to rely on written documents for information about the past.
Sound recording technology has once again enable us to collect and use information communicated by speech, reflecting what it was like to be there. This is called oral history. It is a powerful means of recording and preserving the unique memories and life experiences of people, enabling us to eavesdrop on past events, feelings, attitudes and ways of life.
This has been very much part of the Maori tradition, but is now given another dimension by being "captured in time", so that future tellings do not alter the details.
The primary form of the oral history document is the recorded human voice, with a written transcription or abstract accompanying it. However, we have recently branched out using new technology, and now have an interview with builder David Bowden, discussing his structures at the Hamilton Gardens, on DVD.
We have nearly 400 oral histories in the Heritage Collection on Level 3 of the Garden Place library. The topics are as diverse as architecture, immigrants, Hamilton suburbs, farming and the Hamilton Gardens. They are a wonderful source of information and really bring the subject alive, creating vivid and accurate pictures of our past . We also have several excellent books and magazines to help anyone interested in recording an oral history of their own.
