“All history was at first oral”
Much of the history we see on paper was spoken before it was written. Originally, the study of history was not about essays, bibliographies and footnotes, but instead songs, family tales and fireside stories. The Ancient Greek myths, the legend of King Arthur and even nursery rhymes are all believed to have originated from oral tradition.
Within historical study, the likes of Thucydides, Bede and Samuel Johnson all used eyewitness accounts of events. Yet, this practice was overtaken by a lengthy period of western historiography based almost entirely on written sources. This predominantly document-based study lasted until the twentieth century, when historians began to make use of technology and record oral histories using tape recorders.
Oral histories have subsequently been used for the study of a wide range of topics, including local dialects and traditions, BAME histories, and the history of medicine, which brings us to this very exciting ‘Birthing Stories’ project in which I have been researching more about the history of giving birth and obstetrics in Worcestershire (take a look at the previous blog if you wish to know a bit more about my role in the project).
Over the past two weeks, I have been delving into the ‘Medicine in Worcester’ collection of transcribed oral histories, which were recorded in the early 2000s for George Marshall Medical Museum. These interviews feature many locals and healthcare staff from Worcestershire who discuss topics ranging from the NHS to wartime Worcester. For the purposes of this project, I am very interested in the discussion of giving birth and obstetrics.
I find it fascinating to see people’s stories in their original form, not obscured by statistics or analysis. In the transcripts, every word, cough and ring of the doorbell is documented to ensure accuracy, which at times presents challenging reading!
Just to give a taste of the treasures in the oral histories, here is a story of a woman giving birth in Worcestershire in around 1967. She had no friends to look after her other children, so she decided to give birth at home. The night before her due date, she got up in the middle of the night, did some housework and fixed the Christmas tree to distract herself. She remembers thinking “I think I have time to make steak and kidney pie” and cooked it just before the midwife arrived! In my next blog, I will be exploring in more depth the experience of giving birth at home in Worcestershire.
“I knew I was going to have the baby next morning so I got up in the middle of the night and I did a bit of housework and sat down and I did a bit of tidying round I put the Christmas tree right, I busied myself through the night which made the time go […] much quicker, rather than lying somewhere and counting the ceiling tiles or the stripes on the wall, I was doing something and I found that was a very much better at least for me. […] Then the midwife came, and I remember trying to think “I think I have time to make steak and kidney pie […] And it was all cooking and she arrived... she left at ten past ten, in the morning, and at twenty past ten I knew I was going to have this baby fairly quickly so at twenty past ten I went upstairs she arrived five minutes later and our third child Denise was born at twenty to eleven”
This snippet from an oral history is just one example of all the colourful, personal stories to be found in these recordings, and as part of the ‘Birthing Stories’ project, the George Marshall Medical Museum is very keen to collect more oral histories about the experience of giving birth in Worcestershire, and will be seeking funding, soon.
Oral history has the power to democratise history, as it does not present a ‘top-bottom’ narrative of history which typically depends on government papers and elite affairs. Oral history instead brings to light the stories of locals and marginalised groups, which may otherwise be neglected in the historical record. With the digital age upon us, recording oral histories has never been easier, with recording equipment readily available on our phones and laptops (rather than having to lug a heavy tape recorder around!).
If you are interested in finding out more about the ‘Birthing Stories’ project, please contact the George Marshall Medical Museum Curator, Louise Price, via email: louise.price10@nhs.net
- Molly Schoenfeld, Research Assistant for ‘Birthing Stories’ project