By Anita Hecht, Director of Life History Services
In 1997, I founded LIFE HISTORY SERVICES with the mission of helping others honor the past, capture the present, and inform the future. An interest first sparked as a Fulbright scholar in West Germany, I began recording oral histories in 1995 with Steven Spielberg’s Visual History Foundation of the Holocaust. I conducted over 40 videotaped interviews with Holocaust survivors around the globe in English, Spanish, and German.
Ever since then I have been actively helping individuals, families, communities, public institutions, businesses, and others record and preserve their unique stories. Along with a wonderful team of production assistants, I have produced hundreds of memoirs and oral history archives in print, audio, video, and multimedia formats.
Your Story
As you consider the various options, it is important to remember that the core value of any recorded history project lies in the quality of the interview itself. Meaningful interviews put narrators at ease and in charge of their own story while exploring substantive lines of inquiry. This process of meaningful engagement is at the core of my work at Life History Services. I am honored to serve each client directly, and I aspire to bring practiced guidance, intellectual curiosity, deep listening, and a professional production team to every project.
Below is a brief resume of my background and experience. I would be delighted to begin a conversation with you today about your wishes.
- Over 400 personal, family, business, and community-based oral history projects
- Licensed independent clinical social worker & psychotherapist
- Trained interviewer of Holocaust survivors for Steven Spielberg’s Visual History Foundation of the Shoah
- Published writer, lecturer, and oral history consultant
- Board of Directors, Association of Personal Historians, 1998-2004
- Member, Oral History Association & International Institute on Reminiscence & Life Review
- Masters of Science in Clinical Social Work, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Bachelor of Arts in History, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Phi Beta Kappa
- Fulbright Scholar
- Fluency in English, Spanish, German
For a free consultation, please CONTACT us.