OralHistoryQuestions

Oral History Interview Questions

  1. What is your full name?
  2. Do you know why you were named that?
  3. Do you know the origins of your family name?
  4. Did you have any nicknames growing up?
  5. What do people call you now?
  6. How are you and I related?
  7. Where were you born and when?
  8. Do you know where you were conceived?
  9. What was your position in the family? Oldest? Youngest?
  10. Where did you grow up?
  11. Do you remember the address?
  12. Do you remember the phone number?
  13. What type of house was it?
  14. Did you move a lot?
  15. Why did you move?
  16. Where and when did you move each time?
  17. What you can remember of each house?
  18. Did you always have electricity?
  19. Did the house have a garden?
  20. Did you grow up in a big city or a small town?
  21. What were your favorite places to go?
  22. Did you have a favorite hideout?
  23. Did the family take vacations?
  24. What did you wear growing up?
  25. Did you buy the clothes or did someone in the family make them?
  26. Did the family have a car?
  27. Was your family well provided for?
  28. What was a typical family evening like?
  29. What did the family do for entertainment?
  30. Did you go to the movies?
  31. What do you remember about the movies?
  32. Did you listen to the radio?
  33. What were your hobbies and what did you do in your spare time?
  34. What were some typical prices for goods as you were growing up?
  35. What was a typical Saturday like?
  36. What was a typical Sunday like?
  37. Did the family attend church?
  38. What was the most important holiday?
  39. What were some holiday traditions?
  40. What did the family do for Christmas?
  41. What did the family do for Easter?
  42. What did the family do for Halloween?
  43. Were there any birthday traditions?
  44. What kind of gifts did you receive?
  45. Was your family politically active?
  46. Did you visit relatives often?
  47. Did anyone in the family stay in touch with more distant relatives?
  48. Were there any family reunions when you were growing up?
  49. Were you responsible for any chores?
  50. Which ones?
  51. Anything you hated?
  52. Who cooked?
  53. Did you learn to cook?
  54. If so, who taught you?
  55. How did the family get food?
  56. Did you learn to sew?
  57. If so, who taught you?
  58. How did you learn to drive?
  59. Do you remember your first school?
  60. Did you have any memorable or favorite teacher?
  61. What was your favorite subject in school?
  62. What was your least favorite subject?
  63. Were you a good student?
  64. What were your feelings towards school?
  65. How did you get to and from school?
  66. Were you an obedient kid or a mischievous kid?
  67. How were you punished when you did wrong?
  68. Were you especially close to anyone?
  69. Whom did you admire growing up?
  70. Who influenced you the most?
  71. Were you a healthy kid?
  72. What did you want to be when you grew up?
  73. Did you have a favorite nursery rhyme or story growing up?
  74. What were you favorite toys?
  75. What kinds of games and sports did you play?
  76. Were you a member of any clubs?
  77. Do you remember first-hand any fads growing up?
  78. What kind of pets did you have?
  79. Did you learn to swim as a kid?
  80. Do any specific historical events or news stories stand out in your memory?
  81. Did they have any effect on you?
  82. Did the depression affect you? (1930s)
  83. How did you get by?
  84. Do you remember your first crush?
  85. What were your teenage years like?
  86. When did you start dating?
  87. What did you do on dates?
  88. How did you get around?
  89. Did you work growing up?
  90. What was your first job?
  91. What education did you get past high school?
  92. Did the family support or encourage you?
  93. When did you leave home and why?
  94. How did leaving home change your life?
  95. Did you feel grown up?
  96. Were you scared?
  97. How is the world different from when you were a kid?
  98. How are race relations different?
  99. What kind of jobs have you had as an adult?
  100. How did you decide on your career?
  101. Have you made enough money to live comfortably?
  102. How long did you work every day?
  103. How old were you when you retired?
  104. What were the hardest choices you had to make in life?
  105. Did you make the right decisions?
  106. What person had the most positive influence on your adult life?
  107. Did anyone change the course of your life by something they did?
  108. Did anyone say anything that had an impact on your life?
  109. How would you describe your political beliefs?
  110. What wars have been fought in your lifetime?
  111. How did you feel about them?
  112. What U.S. presidents have you voted for?
  113. Do you still admire them?
  114. What church do you attend?
  115. Do you believe in the after life?
  116. Have you ever done any volunteer work?
  117. What are society's biggest problems today?
  118. How could we solve them?
  119. How tall are you?
  120. What color is your hair?
  121. Has it always been the same color?
  122. What color are your eyes?
  123. Where have you lived as an adult?
  124. When were you there?
  125. Why do you live where you live today?
  126. Describe your health in general?
  127. What major illnesses or health problems do you remember?
  128. Have you had any health problems that are hereditary?
  129. Do you exercise regularly?
  130. Do you have any bad habits?
  131. Are there any that you've gotten rid of?
  132. If you could change something about yourself, what would it be?
  133. Have you ever been the victim of a crime?
  134. What happened?
  135. Have you ever been in a serious accident?
  136. Has anyone ever saved your life?
  137. Have you ever saved someone's life?
  138. Have you ever had an experience that you would consider supernatural or psychic?
  139. What do you usually dream about?
  140. What's the most stressful experience you've lived through?
  141. Do you play any instruments?
  142. Can you play or sing something for me?
  143. Do you consider yourself creative?
  144. Is there anything that you've made or built or written?
  145. How would you describe your sense of humor?
  146. What's the funniest practical joke you've played on someone?
  147. What activities have you enjoyed as an adult?
  148. What are your hobbies?
  149. Have you had any hobbies that you no longer practice?
  150. What's the most amazing thing that's ever happened to you?
  151. What the most embarrassing?
  152. Have you ever met anyone famous?
  153. If so, what happened?
  154. What organizations or groups have you belonged to?
  155. Have you ever won any awards as an adult?
  156. If so, what?
  157. When do you remember being the most at peace and happy to be alive?
  158. What was going on then?
  159. What's the most beautiful place you've been and what was it like?
  160. What's the longest trip you've been on?
  161. Where was it?
  162. Where was your favorite vacation?
  163. Why was it your favorite?
  164. What pets have you had?
  165. Were any particular pets your favorites?
  166. Is there anything you've always wanted to do, but haven't done?
  167. Can you recall any interesting parties as an adult?
  168. Do you remember Pearl Harbor? (1941)
  169. Do you remember D-Day? (1944)
  170. Do you remember hearing of the Titanic sinking? (1912)
  171. Do you remember hearing of JFK's assassination? (1963)
  172. Do you remember hearing of MLK's assassination? (1968)

Family

  1. Do you know when your family came to the U.S.?
  2. Do you know how they came?
  3. Are there any stories about the voyage itself?
  4. Do you have any relatives in foreign countries?
  5. How did you meet the person you would later marry?
  6. How would you describe them?
  7. Do you remember your first date?
  8. How long did you know them before the wedding?
  9. What was the courtship like?
  10. Describe the wedding proposal?
  11. When and where did you get married?
  12. What was the ceremony like?
  13. Who was there?
  14. How would you describe your spouse now?
  15. What do you most admire about them?
  16. How long have you been married?
  17. How did you find out you were going to be a parent the first time?
  18. How many children did you have all together?
  19. Where were they born and when?
  20. Do you remember anything that your kids did when they were small that amazed you?
  21. Do you remember anything unusual that your kids did?
  22. Any thing funny?
  23. What did you find most difficult about raising kids?
  24. Did you spoil any of your kids?
  25. If so, how?
  26. Were you a strict parent?
  27. Did you treat any of your kids differently?
  28. If you had it do over again, would you change anything about how you raised your family?
  29. If so, how?
  30. How did you hear you'd be a grandparent?
  31. How did you feel about it?
  32. What advice do you have for your children and grandchildren?

Parents

  1. (Father's | Mother's) name?
  2. Where and when were they born?
  3. What did they look like?
  4. How did your parent's meet?
  5. What were the circumstances behind their courtship and marriage?
  6. What did they do for a living?
  7. Did you ever visit them or help them at work?
  8. What were they like?
  9. What did you get or inherit from them?
  10. Are there any special family heirlooms?
  11. Did any of your relatives fight in World War I or World War II?
  12. Who were the black sheep of the family?
  13. Were there any famous or infamous relatives?

Grandparents/Great-Grandparents

  1. What were the names of your mother's parents?
  2. When and where were they born?
  3. Where did they live?
  4. What did they do for a living?
  5. Do you have personal memories of them?
  6. What were the names of your father's parents?
  7. When and where were they born
  8. Where did they live?
  9. What did they do for a living?
  10. Do you have personal memories of them?
  11. What do you remember hearing about your great-grandparents?
  12. Did you ever meet them?
  13. Who was the oldest family member you remember meeting?
  14. What do you remember about them?
  15. Why did they come to the U.S.?
  16. Did you know them well?
  17. Did they ever describe their lives?
  18. What country did they or their ancestors come to the United States from?
  19. What traditions are still practiced in your family?

Military Career

  1. Where and when did you serve in the military?
  2. What were your duties?
  3. What was your rank when you left?

Favorites

  1. Style of music?
  2. Instrument?
  3. Musical group?
  4. Solo artist?
  5. Song?
  6. Movie?
  7. Artist?
  8. Painting?
  9. Poet?
  10. Poem?
  11. TV show?
  12. Author?
  13. Book?
  14. Season?
  15. Tree?
  16. Flower?
  17. Holiday?
  18. Color?
  19. Sport?
  20. Athlete?
  21. Animal?
  22. Meal?
  23. Fruit?
  24. Vegetable?
  25. Candy?
  26. Cookie?
  27. Drink?
  28. Restaurant?
  29. Ice cream flavor?
  30. Board game?
  31. Card game?

Hypothetical Questions

  1. What would you consider a "perfect" evening for you?
  2. Whom do you admire most? In what way does that person inspire you?
  3. What is your most treasured memory?
  4. What is the greatest accomplishment of your life? Is there anything you hope to do that is even better?
  5. If you went to a dinner party and were offered a dish you had never tried, would you want to taste it even if it sounded strange and not very appealing?
  6. Does the fact that you have never done something before increase or decrease its appeal to you?
  7. Do your close friends tend to be older or younger than you?
  8. Your house, containing everything you own, catches fire; after saving your loved ones and pets, you have time to safely make a final dash to save any one item. What would it be?
  9. For what in life do you feel most grateful?
  10. If a friend were almost always late, would you resent it or simply allow for it? Can you be counted on to be on time?
  11. Is it easy for you accept help when you need it? Will you ask for help?
  12. Would you like to be famous? In what way?
  13. Is there something that you've dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven't you done it?
  14. At a meal, your friends start belittling a common acquaintance. If you felt their criticisms were unjustified, would you defend the person?
  15. If you could take a one-month trip anywhere in the world and money were not a consideration, where would you go and what would you do?
  16. If your friends and acquaintances were willing to bluntly and honestly tell you what they really thought of you, would you want them to?
  17. Given the choice of anyone in history or the present, name four people you would invite to a dinner party?
  18. If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be?
  19. If you were to be granted one wish, what would it be?
  20. If you could have witnessed one event in history, what would you want to have seen?
  21. If you had to chose the single most valuable thing you ever learned, what would it be?
  22. If you were to be successful in another profession, what would you want to do?
  23. If you had to spend all of your vacations for the rest of your life in the same place, where would you go?
  24. If you won a lottery, what is the first thing you would do?
  25. If you could have the world's largest collection of one thing, what would it be?
  26. If you could have the autograph of one person from history, who would it be?
  27. If you could plan the perfect evening out, what would it involve?
  28. If you had to predict the most important development of the twenty-first century, what do you think it would be?
  29. If you had to choose the most important single event of this century, what would win the honor?
  30. If you had to name the best purchase you've ever made, which one would you choose?
  31. If you could win any competition in the world, what would it be for?
  32. If you had to choose the worst work experience you've ever had, what would you pick?


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Page last modified on September 30, 2006, at 09:02 AM EST