As a sometime interviewer in the oral history program of the Historical Society of the District of Columbia Circuit, I try to follow comparable programs in other jurisdictions. Recently, the oral history programs of the Idaho Legal History Society and the Tennessee Bar Foundation have been in the news.
The Idaho Legal History Society’s program dates from the founding of the Society in 2005, by Chief U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill and U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald Bush. According to an account, the “collection now contains more than 50 oral histories. They include the tales of judges and lawyers, but also a law professor, reporters and a courtroom artist.”
As I learned here and here, The Tennessee bar’s program dates from 1998 and includes “video oral histories from 76 of the top lawyers and judges in the state.” The entire collection has been opened to researchers, who may consult it at the Tennessee State Library and Archives.
