Ellen Brooks

After graduating from the Oral History Master of Arts program at Columbia University, I served as the Oral Historian for the Wisconsin Veterans Museum (2013-2018) and then the Oral Historian for the State Archives of North Carolina (January 2019 - August 2020). I began my career as a freelance contractor and consultant in 2020 and am currently based in Chicago.

I am motivated by storytelling and community building both personally and professionally. I am committed to work that prioritizes the documentation of unheard and underrepresented stories, and projects and programs that increase accessibility to those stories. I enjoy welcoming new voices into the oral history space, both practitioners and narrators, and I am an advocate for networking and mentorship. As such, I co-founded and previously chaired the Oral History Association's Emerging Professionals Committee and developed one of OHA's mentor programs.

These days I am excited to continue to explore podcasting and other creative media projects. I'm especially interested in working with existing oral history and archival collections to highlight their value and promote their use.

Pronouns: she/her
Location: Midwest
Languages: English
Looking for: Full Time, Part Time, Freelance, Consulting
Fair Wage Agreement: Yes

Email: ellen.oralhistory@gmail.com