2024 Oral History Association Annual Meeting

In this roundtable, our participants will share the history of the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program's Art of Aging Oral History Project, and our reflections on the method and ethics of conducting oral interviews with elder individuals in the third phase of life. Based on our narrators' interviews, this project positions aging as a transformative and enriching experience, and we will explore the nuanced interplay between individual growth, societal perceptions, and the inherent beauty and challenges of advancing years.

ABSTRACT: In this roundtable, participants will share the history of the Art of Aging Oral History Project and our reflections on the method, findings, and ethics of conducting oral interviews with individuals in the third phase of life. At the University of Florida’s Samuel Proctor Oral History Program (SPOHP), we developed the Art of Aging Oral History Project in three stages. The first was in 2017, when SPOHP collaborated with the University of Florida College of Medicine to develop an oral history project to explore the intricacies of communicating with an older population in Northern Florida. In 2022, this project expanded to the Oak Hammock Retirement Community in Gainesville, Florida, where SPOHP staff documented the residents' rich life experiences. This year, SPOHP is conducting interviews with senior living community residents of The Village at Gainesville. The current goal of the Art of Aging is to record the changes that residents of the retirement communities are experiencing, as well as the challenges and opportunities that such residencies are providing both to individuals and society. We are learning from our narrators that in finding a community that stimulates physical health and life-long learning, individuals tend to embrace aging through solidarity. The Art of Aging challenges and redefines societal attitudes toward aging by documenting these histories. This roundtable will delve into the process of aging as a transformative and enriching experience, exploring the nuanced interplay between individual growth, societal perceptions, and the inherent beauty and challenges of advancing years. The process of this oral history project invites a profound appreciation for growing older. As we learn to honor and celebrate aging through a more inclusive lens, we aim to enrich human experiences for all generations.