About

Nowadays, oral history is one of the famous and efficient approaches of historiography. The historical material for this approach is achieved by active interview and then it will be presented to society in different styles and frames. This method of historiography started by recording interviews and then developed. Nowadays some scholars and research centers prefer to record the narrators' face, feelings and behavior in addition to their voice and consequently they are interested in filming techniques.
From its beginning in 1948, this kind of historiography has been the target of sympathetic and defiant opinions. Different societies and communities were formed to fertilize and classify the information in this regard correctly and also exchange different opinions by holding specialized seminars and workshops to help the development and presentation of the idea of oral history.

In this regard, the Iranian Oral History website started its work unofficially from the February of 2008 simultaneously with the 4th Professional Iranian Oral History Seminar and inaugurated officially in February of 2009, simultaneously with the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution of Iran. Persian and English are the basic languages of this website.

Managers and designers of this website are of active people in the field of oral history and are trying to manage this site professionally in related subjects. So, it covers related topics such as: diaries, travelogues, chronologies, and memoirs and so on.

One of the important aims of this website is to create a proper environment for debating different thoughts and opinions in the field of oral history. The other aim of this website is to establish connections with oral history scholars and societies in and out of the country and presenting the latest oral history achievements and information via these links.

This website contemplates to make some not easily accessible published oral history documents, pictures and articles accessible for the viewers from all over the world.
The directors and the staff of this website would be pleased if you refer to the address of this website when using these materials in your works� list of references.

Since oral history is one of the most popular ways of historiography, we are planning to design a virtual training workshop in this website for all the interested people. We hope in this way all the people can play roles in conserving the culture and history of this country.
We are trying hard to minimize our weaknesses and deficiencies and in this regard we need the cooperation and assistance of you all. This website is yours and we want you to share with us in the improvement of it by presenting articles and offering your suggestions.



 

Address: Iranian Oral History Website, Hozeye Honari (Arts Center) Building, 3rd Floor, Hafez-Somayyeh crossrods, Tehran, I.R.Iran, P.O.Box: 18518/1677
 
Tel: +98-21-84172370, +98-21-81918133 (121, 217)
 


 

Destiny Had It So

Memoirs of Seyyed Nouraddin Afi
It was early October 1982, just two or three days before the commencement of the operation. A few of the lads, including Karim and Mahmoud Sattari—the two brothers—as well as my own brother Seyyed Sadegh, came over and said, "Come on, let's head towards the water." It was the first days of autumn, and the air was beginning to cool, but I didn’t decline their invitation and set off with them.
Oral History School – 7

The interviewer is the best compiler

According to Oral History Website, Dr. Morteza Rasoulipour in the framework of four online sessions described the topic “Compilation in Oral History” in the second half of the month of Mordad (August 2024). It has been organized by the Iranian History Association. In continuation, a selection of the teaching will be retold:
An Excerpt from the Narratives of Andimeshk Women on Washing Clothes During the Sacred Defense

The Last Day of Summer, 1980

We had livestock. We would move between summer and winter pastures. I was alone in managing everything: tending to the herd and overseeing my children’s education. I purchased a house in the city for the children and hired a shepherd to watch over the animals, bringing them near the Karkheh River. Alongside other herders, we pitched tents.

Memoirs of Commander Mohammad Jafar Asadi about Ayatollah Madani

As I previously mentioned, alongside Mehdi, as a revolutionary young man, there was also a cleric in Nurabad, a Sayyid, whose identity we had to approach with caution, following the group’s security protocols, to ascertain who he truly was. We assigned Hajj Mousa Rezazadeh, a local shopkeeper in Nurabad, who had already cooperated with us, ...