Services Overview

Our services include, but are not limited to the following:

Given modern digital platforms, the global reach of audio, video, print, and multimedia technologies, unlimited cloud storage platforms, and remote meeting services, the possibilities for capturing and preserving stories are endless!

At Life History Services, we begin with a collaborative, guided conversation to help you assess and determine the recording format, topics, length, and budget of your project. A skilled interviewer and researcher then comprehensively gathers and professionally records your unique stories, either remotely or onsite at a location of your choosing. At the conclusion of your project, you receive both hard copies and a digital oral history archive — beautifully designed to last as a legacy heirloom for generations to come.

If you do not see what you are looking for, we can probably create it for you!

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

In oral history as in journalism, accuracy is paramount. As the retired Washington bureau chief of The Milwaukee Journal and its successor, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, I worked with Anita Hecht on the William Proxmire Oral History Project. Throughout the project, Ms. Hecht was thoroughly professional, but most importantly, the end product was impeccably accurate and professionally executed.

Frank Aukofer

Retired Journalist, Washington DC, US Senator William Proxmire Oral History Project of the Wisconsin Historical Society

You have a way of putting your subjects at ease and making them feel as though they and their personal stories are the most important of all the ones you have done.

Marvin Schonberg

Administrator/Writer, California

Being videotaped was so much easier than I had anticipated. Many of my concerns were eliminated at our first preliminary meeting.

Raymond Marks

Banker, California

Ms. Hecht created an atmosphere of trust and comfort, both of which helped me to relate the rather difficult yet significant experiences of my life.

Hans

Holocaust Survivor, Wisconsin

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

Myer

Attorney, California

We were very, very pleased with the results [of the oral history project]—the rapport you established with each of the various members, of different ages and attitudes, and the business like manner in which the job was done.

Don Green

Chair of the Edith S. Green Oral History Project, Temple Emanu-El, California

The preliminary meeting also made me more comfortable so that at the interview itself, I could relax, ignore the camera and just have a pleasant chat, reminiscing with you.

Melvin

Retired Businessman, 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

Your expertise not only in the interviewing part, but in lighting, positioning, was impressive. I felt like a film star being directed by an expert director.

Golda

Philanthropist, California