About oral histories

What is oral history?

History does not just exist in formal records and written accounts of the past. It is all around us. There is a ‘living history’ contained within the stories, memories and reflections of people of all walks of life. This is a human archive, built up through our lives and shaped by our experiences. And everyone contributes to this archive – from world leaders and ‘big names’ to ‘ordinary people’ talking about everyday events. But to nurture and grow this archive, we need to capture these experiences, share these memories, and preserve these first-hand, eye-witness testimonies. 

This is the task of oral history. Driven by the conviction that ‘everybody’s story matters’, as the UK’s Oral History Society puts it, oral history recognises that all memories are a mixture of facts and opinions – and attaches equal importance to both. It lets people tell their own stories, in their own words, without a script. Like all good history, it provides both a window onto the past and a vivid account of how that past is understood in the present. 

Why an oral history of the British Council?

This project is driven by a desire to tell our story. As a global organisation operating in a rapidly changing world, we feel we have an important story to tell. With a 90-year backstory of building people-to-people connections through culture, education and the English language, we certainly have no shortage of storytellers. And these are the people best placed to tell our story – those who have been part of it. Those who can describe, in their own words, what the British Council does, and what this means in practice. In the spirit of oral history described above, we want to contribute to the living archive of the past and preserve an authentic, unscripted record of our work over the last few decades. We hope our interviewees offer a suitably diverse, eclectic and inspiring range of stories that collectively piece together the living history of our unique organisation. 

We also wanted to better understand our story. This is not a corporate vanity project. Our interviewees cover many good times but also reflect on some challenging experiences and difficult moments in our history, as well as areas of discord and disagreement. Through the British Library, full unedited recordings of each interview are being made publicly accessible online as a resource for future research and scholarship. We’ll also be commissioning our own independent analysis of the collection, mining the interviews for insights on our role, reception and impact within the wider history of the UK’s international relations and soft power. 

The interviews allow us to map out change and continuity in our approach over time and to consider how major events in international affairs and UK government policy have impacted our focus. We can also assess the impact of recent technological and socio-cultural developments and analyse how current trends may shape our work over the years ahead. In this endeavour, we will also draw on an earlier British Council oral history project, initiated around the time of our 75^th anniversary. This ran from 2002-2013 and resulted in over 60 interviews, mainly (though not exclusively) with former members of staff. It was led by the British Council Association – with the backing of the British Council – and the recordings are also archived at the British Library.

Our approach

This project began with a call out to British Council colleagues in early 2024, asking for suggestions for potential interviewees. We wanted to hear about individuals whose stories could illustrate the various ways in which our organisation has had an impact on people’s lives, in diverse global settings and contexts. The resulting pool of interviewees includes those with experience of the British Council in the UK and around the globe and across our main areas of work – arts and culture, education and English language teaching – either as members of staff or as external partners (and in some cases, both). There are those whose relationships with us have been long-lasting and extend back decades, as well as those who have worked with us on specific projects that offer particularly illuminating insights into our approach, role or relationships. Other interviewees provide personal testimonies of our work ‘on the ground’ in places around the world experiencing periods of significant change or during historically significant events – such as our English teacher training programmes in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall or our work in post-apartheid South Africa.

The interviews were conducted between May and August 2024, online or in person. The interviewers were all members of current British Council staff and bespoke training was provided by an oral history expert affiliated to the Oral History Society in the UK. Ranging in duration from around 50 minutes to over three and half hours, each interview offers its own window onto the world of the British Council – and through this, onto some of the multifaceted international and domestic contexts, influences and trends that frame what we do and how and why we do it. They reflect on our past, take stock of the present and look ahead as we move towards our centenary in 2034. 

Explore the collection and find written summaries and audio clips for each interview:

Next steps

Research and analysis is currently being conducted, drawing on this collection and the previous collection of British Council oral histories from our 75^th anniversary project. Insights and outputs from the research will be published on this website in 2025. In addition, we will continue to build our corporate memory through a new in-house programme of oral history interviews with long-serving colleagues from around the world – and these recordings will in turn also be added to the public archive at the British Library. Sign up to our Research and Insight newsletter to receive regular updates.

Acknowledgements 

Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this project.

British Council interviewers: 
Anna Duenbier; Anuja Desai; Christine Wilson; Ellen Darling; Emily Hughes; George Wilson; Ian Thomas; Irene Paganelli; Isobel Cecil; James Perkins; Juliana Ferreira; Kate Sullivan; Lisdey Espinoza; Maryam Rab; Mike Solly; Rachel Stevens; Rebecca Simor; Reesha Alvi; Sevra Davis; Steven Copeland; Stuart Anderson; Susanna Carmody; Thom Louis; Uchechi Awaraka.

British Council digital designers:
Ed Richards; Angelique Halliburton

British Council Marketing Manager: Irene Paganelli

Video production: Feral Films

Special thanks to: 
Sarah Lowry of the Oral History Society for her hugely informed, inspiring and insightful oral history training; Mary Stewart (Lead Curator for Oral History and Head of National Life Stories at the British Library) for her expert advice and encouragement; Charlie Morgan (Oral History Archivist at the British Library) for his guidance and support. 

Thank you above all to everyone who has been interviewed for this project and whose stories we are honoured to be able to share.

Project manager: 
James Perkins, Head of Research Excellence, Research and Insight team

Get in touch at research.global@britishcouncil.org 

In partnership with the British Library: