History of Our Initiative

The HOHI was the brainchild of both a frustrated professor and the creativity and hard work of her students. Dr. Michella Marino, an oral historian by training, became frustrated by the lack of public access to the various oral history projects she was working on with her students. Her students helped create fascinating oral histories but then the end result--the audio of the interviews--languished in dusty archives or dark drawers of her file cabinet. The amazing stories of their interviewees were never heard again. Thus, she sought a way to make her students and their interviewees voices heard.

She also realized if she was frustrated with the lack of a public space for their interviewees, perhaps the larger community was as well. Where did young kids store their interviews with their grandparents? Where did community members deposit interviews conducted for local history projects? And even if these interviews were kept safe at a local library or historical society, how accessible were they to the general public? She guessed they probably were not easy to get a hold of without significant thought, planning, or equipment. Could a high school student easily listen to an interview for a project while at home? Similarly, how could our community learn more about its own history through the voices and experiences of those who resided there? The answer seemed to be that Hastings needed an accessible online archive that was easily maintained and open to everyone. So, with her trusty assistant, Brian Whetstone, and her Introduction to Oral History Methods class in the Fall of 2016, the HOHI took shape. It will always be a work-in-progress but it is our intention to democratize access to oral histories, and we hope that the HOHI can do that for the larger Hastings community. So far we've been pleased with our work!

In the spring of 2018, as Dr. Marino prepared to relocate to her home state of Indiana and as Brian neared graduation, the HOHI formed a permanent partnership with the Adams County Historical Society to ensure the upkeep of the HOHI interviews and maintenance of the online archive. The Adams County Historical Society and Hastings College remain committed to furthering the HOHI mission.