Uniting the past and the future in public health nursing: the Michigan Oral History Project

In 1987 a group of Michigan public health nurses recognized the need to capture the richness of the lives of renowned public health leaders by collecting and preserving their oral histories. With the assistance of the Bentley Collection at the University of Michigan, the Michigan Oral History Project found a home. In this paper, the process of designing and implementing the oral history project is described within the framework of McBride's Orchestrating the Stages of a Career, adapted from the Dalton/Thompson/Price career development model. The steps in selecting interviewers and leaders, conducting the interviews, and keeping track of the completed work are outlined. Finally, the early results and potential uses for the collected data are discussed. This project has special significance in this year for the celebration of the centennial of public health nursing.