Center for Oral History

Celebrating Community Knowledge for Social Change

The Center for Oral History (COH), in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, collects, documents, preserves and highlights the recollections of Native Hawaiians and the multi-ethnic people of Hawaiʻi. It produces oral histories and interpretive historical materials about lifeways, key historic events, social movements and Hawaiʻi’s role in the globalizing world, for the widest possible use.

COH was first established in 1976 by the Hawaiʻi State Legislature as a part of the Social Science Research Institute in the College of Social Sciences at UH Mānoa. COH also develops books, articles, podcasts, and videos based on oral histories, serves as a resource center for oral history materials, and trains groups and individuals in oral history research.