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Oral history is the recording of personal memories and histories of those who experienced historical eras or events. Oral history is a method of historical documentation, using interviews with living survivors of the time being investigated. Oral history often touches on topics scarcely touched on by written documents,and by doing so, fills in the gaps of records that make up early historical documents. Oral history preservation is the field that deals with the care and upkeep of oral history materials, whatever format they may be in.

Oral history is a medium that has many forms such as: eyewitness perspective, songs, myths and stories passed down through families and over generations. Not only is oral history a medium that can be employeed by all cultures and used to richly enhance the history of a group of people. Additionally, oral history encapsulates the following six elements:

Lastly, oral history (storytelling) and more specifically, familial or cultural history can serve many purposes be it entertainment, passing down faith, and motivation. What makes Oral history so unique is its method of approach. Even though has factual validity it tells us more about the meaning than the events of the story. For example in Jewish households, it is cutomary to tell the story of the ‘sedar,’ a story of religion; and religious stories over a nice meal.