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Oral history collection

Stories of Northampton people in their own words

Child sitting in bench in arch space.

Northampton Museums and Art Gallery holds a small collection of oral history interviews. Collected over the last 30 years to support key projects, the collection focuses on the following specific areas.

Northampton boot and shoe trade

A variety of in-depth oral history interviews providing differing perspectives on the shoe trade in Northampton and the county from 1900-2019.

The impact of the First World War on Northampton

Short story interviews of family memories of Northampton and serving Northampton soldiers collected as part of a National Heritage Lottery funded project, Conflict and Communities.

Listen to the histories at the Conflict and Communities archive site

Living in Abington

Collected to support the redisplay at Abington Park Museum in 2017, clips of these oral histories can be heard in the Abington galleries.

Listen to Abington stories

Social history stories of living and working in Northampton

Clips and quotes from these oral histories are used in the temporary exhibition We are Northampton, and in the permanent gallery History of Northampton Gallery 2. Visit Northampton Museums and Art Gallery to view these.

Listen to lace making stories

Get involved

Audio recordings are preserved for future research and used in exhibitions and events. If you have a story that you think should be recorded contact us.

Enquire about recording an oral history

A small group of trained volunteers help with oral history recording and transcribing interviews.

Find out more about volunteering