Oral history programs and plans in Astan Quds Razavi
Maryam Assadi Jafari
Translated by M. B. Khoshnevisan
2019-06-26
The Head of the Document and Press Center of Astan Quds Razavi announced that "Oral History of Nazr (vowing to make an offering) and Endowment" and "Oral History of the Old Families of the Shrine" are the latest plans of the center, and said, "The registration of the endowments of Astan Quds Razavi in different cities is a long run project. The Department of Family Studies has been set up recently in the center and is active as the subset of the professional and studies area of the Document and Press Center of Astan Quds Razavi."
In an interview with the Iranian Oral History website, Dr. Abolfazl Hasanabadi explained about the plans ahead of the center in the current Iranian year and said, "we started oral history interviews since 1377 in solar calendar (1998) and now the life of the activity has reached to twenty years and we have archived twenty thousand hours of interviews. These interviews have been conducted in different fields most part of which are in the areas of the history of Astan Quds, history of Razavi shrine and history of Mashhad."
Referring to the plan "Local History of Khorasan" which started some eight years ago, he stressed, "The plan in some towns – especially in the places where the Astan Quds Razavi has endowments – is under execution and we carry out the documentation of information and interviews with two main goals: first, for reviewing of the cultural impact of the endowments and the libraries of Astan Quds Razavi in the towns – especially in Neishabour and Torbat Heidarieh – and second for registration of local history."
Hasanabadi introduced the plan "Oral History of Nzar and Endowment" as the newest project of the Document and Press Center of Astan Quds Razavi in the current years and added, "We follow up this project specifically. The registration of the endowments of Astan Quds Razavi in different cities is a long run project. The first thing that we have done is to interview the individuals who have endowments and Nazr and our aim is to have an outcome of the state of the endowments of Astan Quds Razavi, endowers as well as encouragement and promotion of the culture of endowment for the next forty years. Astan Quds Razavi in the cities inside and outside Khorasan Razavi Province especially in Yazd, Kerman and Isfahan has endowments. We are conducting interviews in this regard. The plan "Oral History of Nazr and Endowment" takes at least five years. It has started since last year, but it will be followed up more seriously this year."
The Head of the Document and Press Center of Astan Quds Razavi also introduced the plan "oral History of the Old Families of the Shrine" as another important pan of the center, and added, "This plan has started almost two years ago. The Department of Family Studies has been set up recently in the center and is active as the subset of the professional and studies area of the Document and Press Center of Astan Quds Razavi. At present, we are conducting interviews with the old families and servants of the Razavi shrine. We even have families who are the servants of the holy shrine of Imam Reza (PBUH) for three to four hundred years."
In response to a question about how the professional forces are recruited in oral history projects of Astan Quds Razavi, he said, " Our previous procedure was that the individuals with a master's degree in history and students whose theses were related to the Islamic Revolution were prioritized and we only taught them oral history. By counting the interviewers and transcribers, we have some fifteen professional and specialized forces who have more than fifteen years of experience. We are among few centers which have a full archival structure. The interviews after transcription are indexed and its information enters the system. In fact, the content of interviews is searchable on the Internet. The center also has a separate online database that can provide content search for all interviews for researchers inside the center".
In the end, Dr. Abolfazl Hasanabadi reviewed a number of expert meetings in the area of oral history due to be held in the near future and noted, "We are going to hold two meetings in the area of medical history of Mashhad which will review the written documents and oral history of medic in Mashhad. The meeting "Future Research of Oral History in Iran" will also be held in autumn with the cooperation of Iranian Oral History Association so that the mechanisms and the future of oral history are reviewed. Thus, we will have an inner view to Astan Quds this year and promote the oral history of the province to a satisfactory point."
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