About the East Midland Oral History Archive

The East Midlands Oral History Archive was originally funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund to establish the first large-scale archive of oral history recordings for Leicestershire and Rutland. This includes the collections of the former Leicester Oral History Archive, the Mantle archive from North West Leicestershire, the Community History archive of Leicester City Libraries, the Market Harborough Museum collection, and the sound archive of BBC Radio Leicester, along with smaller collections donated by local organisations or individuals.

The recordings are deposited in the Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland, and are currently being catalogued to make them more accessible. The project now has an online catalogue, and also aims to generate new oral history recordings through its own programme of interviewing, and by providing advice, training and support for community groups, museums and heritage organisations, students and other individuals who are interested in developing their own projects.

EMOHA is based in the Centre for Urban History at the University of Leicester and is also supported by Leicestershire County Council and Leicester City Council via the Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland.