PRICING + PROCESS

Collect + capture your oral history — $3,500

What We Do

We’ll work with you to complete the Biographical Data Form + Preliminary Interview Questions
We’ll review photos for the oral history interview
We’ll conduct a preliminary interview to design your custom interview questions
We’ll conduct one 90 to 120 minute interview which will be lightly edited for continuity
Additional services (for example, additional interviewing or editing) available for $150 per hour.

What You Get

Paper copies of the release form, preliminary interview questions, and biographical data form
A 1920x1080 HD resolution .MP4 of the interview on an external drive (the preservation copy)
An unlisted video link which can be easily viewed and shared for a limited time. (Clients are responsible for making copies and preserving their oral history project.)
Everything is delivered 3 weeks from interview date

How it works

mea historia's five-step process

We do not tell a detailed life story from birth to the present. Instead, we focus on important moments, individuals, relationships, events, and ideas, while also capturing the atmosphere and tone of every story.

We rely on practices and standards outlined by the Oral History Association, the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. These professional and cultural organizations have made major intellectual and practical contributions to the fields of oral history, archiving and preservation.

We use a FIVE STEP PROCESS:

step one

The process begins when you reach out to Mea Historia. We’ll ask preliminary questions, you’ll make a $500 deposit to secure our services, then we’ll choose an interview date and location.

Step Two

Mea Historia will conduct preliminary interviews with a small group of family and friends about the person's life, interests and journey. These two data sources (the forms and the informal interviews) serves as the basis of the custom interview questions.

Step Three

The narrator completes the release form, as well as the Biographical Data Form and the Preliminary Interview Form. The narrator also identifies and assembles all photographs and other documents (letters or posters) to be included in the oral history interview.

You can download the forms, complete them on your computer, and email them to Mea Historia, or complete them online.

Step Four

The narrator interview is conducted in a comfortable, quiet environment, allowing adequate time. We believe that every individual has the right to tell their story, and we take pride in ensuring that the overall interview process is both positive and affirming. The interview duration is 90 and 120 minutes.

Step Five

We lightly edit the narrator interview for the purposes of continuity, but maintain the authenticity of the interview to capture and preserve a personal account of their life.

HOW TO PRESERVE YOUR ORAL HISTORY

We recommend you consider the interview and accompanying documentation as part of a collection, much like a library preserves its book collection and a museum its art collection.

For preservation purposes, we recommend you maintain 3 preservation copies: one on the external hard drive, one on a PC or Mac or other device, and one in the cloud (using iCloud, Google Drive or something similar).

Please see our page, Preserving Recordings.

Service Fee $3,500

Deposit $500

Additional support for photos, letters and other archival material, $150 per hour

Booking & Cancellation policy

For narrator interview 48 hours, penalty $250

March 11, 1945. S/Sgt. W. H. Feen. 127-N-114329 | The National Archives

veterans history project

TO COLLECT, PRESERVE AND MAKE ACCESSIBLE THE PERSONAL ACCOUNTS OF AMERICAN WARTIME VETERANS

The United States Congress created the Veterans History Project (VHP) in 2000 as part of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, one of the world's most respected research and cultural institutions. The goal is to preserve oral histories of American wartime so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war.

To participate in Veterans History Project, please review materials posted on their Website. Be sure to review and complete the VHP Field Kit.