Confronting silences in the archive: developing sporting collections with oral histories

Abstract

ABSTRACT Neither archives nor museums are neutral. They reflect particular sets of priorities: those of the institution; the collectors and curators within them; and those of their intended audiences. In the context of sport, gender is a key influence on these priorities. Yet sporting archives are relatively silent about women's historical involvement in sport. A number of Collaborative Doctoral Partnership projects delivered through Sporting Heritage use oral history as a methodology for academic research and as an intervention in the archive, expanding collections and giving voice to otherwise under-represented groups. In this paper, I focus on issues relating to oral history in heritage settings and in the academic practice of history: the history of the methodology itself and its implications for a shared research agenda, including the extent to which oral history can – and should – be used as a method of historical recovery. In sport heritage and sport history. where men and the masculine have dominated the academic discipline and the practice of collecting, I consider the gendering of oral history, and its implications for such collections. Lastly, I reflect on the critical opportunities offered by this methodological approach, as well as the challenges.