Oral Histories

The oral histories have been made available to the public on the ADAA site by special permission from the Armenian Library Museum of America. This is the first time these oral histories have ever been released. They are taped interviews with Armenian genocide survivors whose voices should not be forgotten. Most of the tapes were recorded in the Boston area between 1975 and 1981; they comprise over 600 hours of interviews which Techfusion Corp. kindly digitized. For more details regarding names, dates etc., please contact ALMA. Brief selections have been placed on ADAA's website to inspire storytellers. It's time our stories were told.

What is oral history?

Everyone has a story to tell about their life which is unique to them. Some people have been involved in momentous historical events like the Second World War, but many others haven't. Regardless of age or importance we all have interesting experiences to share. Most importantly, historical documents and books can't tell us everything about our past. Often they concentrate on famous people and big events, and tend to miss out ordinary people talking about everyday events. They also neglect people on the margins of society - ethnic communities, disabled and unemployed people for example - whose voices have been hidden from history. Oral history fills in the gaps and gives us history which includes everyone. Unfortunately, because memories die when people do, if we don't record what people tell us, it is history that is lost for ever.

Click here for information on how to create your own oral history.

Oral History 1
Man talks about how Turks invaded Armenia

Oral History 2
 Turkish Family hides Armenian Family in house.

Oral History 3
Woman talks about home items, food, cooking,and family values.

Oral History 4
Man talks about how families were chosen during deportation.

Oral History 5
Man talks about how the city gave orders to deportees.

Oral History 6
Man talks about how deportees left the village.

Oral History 7
Man talks about Food, Travel, and Marriage during deportation.

Oral History 8
Woman talks about how she was saved from Genocide, because of her Father in Prison.

Oral History 9
Woman talks about how her father was released from Prison.Woman teaches Orphans.

Oral History 10
Man talks about how people got together for Weddings, marriage and in-laws.

Oral History 11
Man talks about Armenian streets and zones.

Oral History 12
Woman talks about how she got money from her father to travel to America.

Oral History 13
Man talks about how Turks and Cops tortured and killed a young man in Public Park and how Civil War was started.

Oral History 14
Man talks about how he started a Tailoring business in the Italian Community.

Oral History 15
Temporarily under construction.

Oral History 16
Man talks about shopping, and money with his father.

Oral History 17
Man talks about how the Turks invaded his father's house, and how his father killed one of them.