Centre for Oral History Research (COHR)

The University’s Centre for Oral History Research was set up in 2007 to act as a catalyst for the growing number of oral history projects which the School of Music, Humanities and Media were establishing. Although the Unit is primarily part of Media, it has close collaboration with History and their MA in Oral History.

The Centre for Oral History Research has a number of highly successful projects. The largest of these is the Up and Under Rugby League project which is an oral history of rugby league in West Yorkshire. It also runs the Asian Voices project which received a £50,000 award from the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2008. The highly successful Cricket Heritage project also has an oral history element to it. The Centre's most recent project is Greenhead Park Stories.

Everyone has a tale to tell. My Yorkshire helps communities to become digital storytellers in partnership with museums, libraries and archives - combining the age-old art of storytelling with multimedia. We invite you to explore and discover personal stories from across the region...

Current Oral History Projects

Greenhead Park Stories

This project seeks to document the diverse array of memories we have of Greenhead Park. Currently undergoing a major multi-million pound redevelopment now is the perfect time to record the stories of how people have gathered in this grand public space over course of its history.

Through working with the Friends of Greenhead Park and other groups which hold festivals and events on the grounds, this project will foster memory exchanges among the vast array of people who have visited the park over the years. Look out for public events, park podcasts and audio tours to coincide with the reopening of the park!

Visit www.greenheadstories.co.uk for more information.

Do you have a memory of Greenhead Park to share? If you’ve used the park, then you are a part of its history! Contact Chris Webb to get involved! c.webb@hud.ac.uk

The Two Minute Silence

This project has received a £10,000 grant from the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) to trace the evolution and continuing relevance of the Remembrance Day two-minute silence, which marks its 90th anniversary in November 2009. Through the personal experience and testimony of Huddersfield people, young and old, the project will explore the continuing significance of the silence as a way of reflecting on global conflict and the beauty and value of peace.

The project will hopefully result in a publicly-accessible archive of original and recorded material, a series of personally crafted two-minute reflections for the COHR website, the University Archives website, and for MLA Yorkshire’s My Learning websites. BBC Radio4 has since commissioned a programme from Clare Jenkins about the two minutes silence for broadcast in November 2009.

Asian Voices
(formerly Ethnic Voices)

This project has just received a £50,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to record the memories of Asians settling in the Huddersfield and Kirklees area. Over the next two years it will interview elderly Asians about their experiences of the area; how they found jobs; the reaction of other communities to them; how they set up places of worship and community centres; the cultural changes they faced, and so forth. The projects will be involving a number of schools in the area and students at these schools will be encouraged to interview their own families about their experiences.

Up and Under - Rugby League

This project has been funded by an £85,000 grant from the University of Huddersfield. Following its ground breaking relationship with the Huddersfield Giants, the award develops further the University’s links with both the sport and the communities of West Yorkshire in which it is played by providing a substantial boost to the promotion of Rugby League heritage.