Topics & Themes

Below are sample topics for both personal and public history projects. Our planning phase helps you define what is most important to you to capture and share. If you do not see what you are looking for here, please do not hesitate to contact us with your questions and wishes.

Sample topics for personal histories

Ancestor & Family History Stories
Childhood Memories & Relationships
Youth & Identity
Education & Interests
Work & Career
Love, Marriage & Family
Historic Events
Grandchildren & Extended Family
Life Lessons & Reflections
Messages to Future Generations

Sample topics for public histories of businesses and other organizations

Old photo business history topics

Founders & Origins
Early Successes
Growing Pains
Community Connections
Leadership & Staffing
Company & Organizational Culture
Institutional Memory & Legacy

Thank you for sending me my oral history. You certainly do exceedingly professional and interesting work, and I hope your services can continue to be put to good use with respect to many subjects and people!

Judge Richard Cudahy

United States Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit

I wanted you to know how meaningful the making of the oral history was for me. You are just a pro.

Fae

Grandmother, California

Your gentle questioning and sympathetic manner helped me search and express ideas that had never occurred to me, but lay buried in my subconscious.

Joseph

Cantor-Educator, California

Anita’s work is something we treasure. I have always believed in leaving a record of our family’s history to my children, grandchildren, and beyond, but I had no idea how captivating and meaningful the process would be. Our project soon became multigenerational, with Anita skillfully interviewing my parents, my wife’s parents, and my children as they grew up. Words are inadequate to express how much I treasure the gift these well-written and recorded family stories will be for my family as the future marches on. Anita is the best.

Scott Cook

Founder & CEO, Intuit

You know how to make your interviewee comfortable and your questions come at the right time—they do not interrupt thought, but keep the conversation flowing; moreover, they lead to substantive answers.

Louis Heilbron

Attorney-Educator, California

Anita Hecht recently presented her life history work in a panel about writing memoirs at our college. Her professionalism and expertise was immediately obvious. She not only understands the societal importance of recording our personal histories but also the integrity and quality with which those stories are told — in terms of presentation, respecting the goals of her clients, and creating a well-crafted narrative. The audience left feeling both enlightened and inspired by her work.

Guy

College Educator, Wisconsin

So many gave time and thought to our oral history project, but the key to its success is the work of Anita Hecht, the oral historian who conducted all the interviews. I found she was totally qualified to handle the broad range of topics pursued and the broad variety of people interviewed.

Ellen Proxmire

US Senator William Proxmire Oral History Project of the Wisconsin Historical Society

Being interviewed was a moving experience for me largely because of your sensitivity and capacity to sense the directions into which we should head.

Hildegard

Psychotherapist, California

I did not think that I was deserving of being put on tape. [However], this record of my personal history will give me a kind of immortality, touching the minds and hearts of my grandchildren.

Harold

Grandfather, California

I was pleased beyond any expectations. Anita has the technique and ability to make the interviewee feel comfortable.

Myer

Attorney, California