Oral History Project

Introduction

The L&LS OT Oral History Preservation Project seeks to collect, document, and disseminate the personal stories of occupational therapy’s leaders, the shared recollections of persons with robust knowledge of a deceased leader’s contributions to the field, and the shared memories of OT practitioners about seminal events in the profession’s history.

The project honors the legacies of our profession’s leaders by preserving for perpetuity their contributions to occupational therapy’s practice, education, and/or scholarship and the memories of OT practitioners who personally experienced the impact of significant historical moments on the profession, those we serve, and society at large.

This page contains information as to how you can become involved with this project, resources for project completion, and links to oral histories, interviews, collective recollections, transcriptions, and/or synopses that have been collected by OT L&LS members, the AOTA, State Occupational Therapy Associations, Universities, and others.

Get Involved

The acquisition of oral histories, interviews with our profession's leaders, and shared recollections about deceased leaders and/or seminal moments in the profession’s history is a work in progress. If you are interested in contributing to this project, have any questions or suggestions on how you can contribute, or have questions regarding project completion resources, please contact the OTL&LS Administrator at administrator@otleaders.org.

Project Completion Resources

Interviews of Leaders

Interview release form: this form will be required to be completed for all interviews that will be directly posted on the OTL&LS website. All completed forms will need to be signed, dated, and submitted to administrator@otleaders.org.  Videos from public domains (e.g., YouTube) do not require a release form.

'We Remember:' Recollections on Leaders' Enduring Legacies

Release form for Recollections on Leaders’ Enduring Legacies: this form will be required to be completed for all recollections that will be directly posted on the OTL&LS website. All completed forms will need to be signed, dated, and submitted to administrator@otleaders.org. Videos from public domains (e.g., YouTube) do not require a release form.

'Remember When:' Recollections of Seminal Events in OT's History

Release form for Recollections of Seminal Events in OT’s History: this form will be required to be completed for all recollections that will be directly posted on the OTL&LS website. All completed forms will need to be signed, dated, and submitted to administrator@otleaders.org. Videos from public domains (e.g., YouTube) do not require a release form.

General Project Resources for Audio/Video Files and Transcribing

Guidelines for recording a Zoom interview (with transcript feature)

Guidelines for audio recording telephone interviews

Guidelines for submitting audio and video files

Guidelines for transcribing audio recordings

Oral History Interviews

American Occupational Therapy Association

Centennial Celebration Interviews

A Conversation With Dr. Lela Llorens, PhD, OTR/Ret, FAOTA

Maryland OT Association & Towson University: Prominent OTs in Maryland's History

OT L&LS Interviews of Leaders and Transcriptions

The following interviews were conducted with OT L&LS members and other recognized leaders in the profession to obtain their perspectives about their professional trajectory, extensive career in occupational therapy, and lasting contributions to the field. 

NOTE: To ensure ability to play complete audio files, please download the recorded interview files to play with your computer's default audio player as opposed to playing the file through Google Drive.

Texas Occupational Therapy Association Diversity Equity and Inclusion Adhoc Committee

TOTA’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion Adhoc Committee recognized TOTA members’ contributions to our profession and TOTA.  They were asked to share how their heritage impacts their service as an occupational therapy practitioner and their service to OT consumers.

The University of Scranton OTArchive Interviews

The following interviews of occupational therapy leaders were completed by University of Scranton graduate students and recorded for the AOTA Centennial History Project called the OTArchive. The AOTA has provided the OT L&LS access to these interviews. Each interviewed leader was a recognized expert in the specified area. Thus, the interviews include specific content-focused questions along with general ones. All but four were completed as a component of a graduate capstone historical research project that critically examined a self-selected topic from the profession’s inception to the present. For more information about this historical research project, see Fleming-Castaldy, R. P. (2018). Developing occupational therapy students’ information and historical literacy competencies: An inter-professional collaborative project. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 106, 340-351. doi: 10/5195/jmla.2018.332

Tuskegee University

University of North Dakota Oral History Project

OT L&LS Group Recollections 

'We Remember:' Recollections on Leaders' Enduring Legacies

The primary goal of the We Remember: Recollections on Leaders’ Enduring Legacies project is to commemorate and honor the accomplishments of occupational therapy’s deceased leaders who substantially influenced the course of the profession and advanced occupational therapy’s practice, education, and/or scholarship. The following interviews were conducted in a group recollection format by members of the OT L&LS, other recognized leaders in the profession, and/or individuals with personal knowledge of the leader whose legacy is being remembered and preserved.
NOTE: To ensure ability to play complete audio and video files, please download the recorded interview files to play with your computer's default audio player as opposed to playing the file through Google Drive.

'Remember When:' Recollections of Seminal Events in OT's History

The primary goal of the Remember When: Recollections on Seminal Events in OT's History project is to collect and preserve the memories of OT practitioners who personally experienced the impact of significant historical moments on the profession, those we serve, and society at large. The following interviews were conducted in a group recollection format by members of the OT L&LS, other recognized leaders in the profession, and/or individuals with personal knowledge of the historical moments being remembered and preserved.
NOTE: To ensure ability to play complete audio and video files, please download the recorded interview files to play with your computer's default audio player as opposed to playing the file through Google Drive.

Additional Resources

'My OT Journey'

Salute to the OT Pioneers Series

The University of St. Augustine's Tea with a Scholar with Lela Llorens

The University of Brighton, UK