ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on Monsieur Marty to see the connection between oral history giants like him and what we are doing here for public policy. The evolution of oral history as a field is fascinating, but we are going to consider here just some basic insights from it that will help you do your own oral history for public policies or programs. The chapter summarizes how, from its folkloric beginnings, oral history became gradually more politicized across the twentieth century and applied to an ever-widening range of topics. It also focuses on how generations of oral historians evolved this tool that we are inheriting. As folklore, an oral history project would have gathered tales, proverbs, songs and supersitions from times past in Newtown. So-called applied oral history has often been commissioned by an organization or profession that hires a qualified oral historian to record its history through the voices and perspectives of those involved.
