Southern Oral History Program
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1973
- HeadquartersChapel Hill, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
Southern Oral History Program firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Southern Oral History Program
- Legal name
- Southern Oral History Program
- Website
- https://sohp.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1973
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Southern Oral History Program industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Oral History Research and Archival Services
- NAICS
- Libraries and Archives (519210), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (5192)
- SIC
- Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Archives, Special Collections & Preservation Operations (Rare Materials, Conservation) (EDAEAGAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Libraries, Archives & Special Collections (BPAGAHAF), Audio Learning Content (Podcasts, Audiobooks, Listening Programs) (EDAGALAM)
Keywords
Where Southern Oral History Program is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Chapel Hill
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Southern Oral History Program business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Institutional Funding: As a program of UNC Chapel Hill's Center for the Study of the American South, SOHP receives institutional support from the university. Major project funding has included a $25,000 grant from the William R. Kenan Charitable Trust for the William C. Friday Legacy project.
- Grants and Foundation Funding: External funding from federal agencies and foundations. The Media and the Movement project received $130,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Art and Oral History Incubator represents a new funding initiative.
- Donations: Public donations accepted through UNC's giving portal. The organization maintains a donation option on its website.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free access to oral history archive |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels8 records
Southern Oral History Program product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The Southern Oral History Program collects, preserves, and provides free public access to a digital archive of more than 6,000 oral history interviews documenting the American South, featuring activists, educators, artists, millworkers, community leaders, and everyday people. It supplements the archive with digital exhibits, original research projects, K-12 curriculum, oral history workshops, and academic training programs (graduate field scholars, undergraduate internships).
Product overview
The Southern Oral History Program (SOHP) operates as a comprehensive oral history archive and educational institution at UNC Chapel Hill. The core product is the Oral History Collection containing over 6,000 interviews documenting the American South, available freely through the Southern Historical Collection at Wilson Library. SOHP offers a portfolio of interconnected products and services: the Digital Exhibits platform showcasing themed collections (Veterans' Voices, Masters of Our Own Domain, Crest Street, etc.); Research Projects including Back Ways, Southern Mix, The Story of Us, and the LDF Oral History Project; and the Oral History Services suite comprising Workshops, the Graduate Field Scholars Program, Undergraduate Internship Program (HIST593), Summer Funding Awards, K-12 Education Resources, and Oral History Resources guides. The 2026 Art & Oral History Incubator represents a new initiative combining creative practice with archival engagement. The organization functions as both an archive (collecting and preserving interviews) and an educational program (teaching oral history methods through experiential learning).
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Oral History Collection and Archive Primary digital archive containing more than 6,000 oral history interviews with activists, educators, artists, millworkers, community leaders, and everyday people documenting the American South. Freely available to the public via sohp.org and the Southern Historical Collection at Wilson Library.
- Digital Exhibits Online exhibits combining oral history audio, text, images, and interactive elements. Themes include Veterans' Voices, African American Credit Unions, Rural Electrification, Southern Surfing, George Stoney: Carolina Roots, Crest Street Community History, and Masters of Our Own Domain.
- Research Projects Original research initiatives including Back Ways (rural South segregation), Southern Mix (Asian/Asian American stories), The Story of Us (LGBTQIA history), Stories to Save Lives (health in the South), Media and the Movement, New Roots/Nuevas Raíces (Latinx migration), and the Long Civil Rights Movement.
- Oral History Workshops Educational workshops on oral history practice, project planning, interviewing techniques, and public storytelling (exhibitions, podcasts, walking tours). Available in-person in the North Carolina Triangle region or via Zoom for out-of-state groups; typically 1-2 hours.
- Graduate Field Scholars Program Selective program accepting UNC graduate students to work 15 hours per week conducting new research and contributing oral histories. Provides an $11K stipend per semester. Field Scholars support archival processing, community partnerships, mentorship, grant research, teaching, and publication.
- Undergraduate Internship Program (HIST593) Experiential education program providing training in oral history as both method and tradition. Students learn interviewing techniques, fieldwork ethics, and interpretive frameworks, including conducting background research, developing interview guides, conducting oral histories, and public history/digital storytelling. Enrolled as 3 credit hours.
- Summer Funding Awards Competitive awards for UNC students pursuing oral history research: the Jacquelyn Dowd Hall Graduate Summer Research Fellowship ($4,000) and SOHP Undergraduate Research Planning Grants ($2,500 each). Supports preliminary oral history planning and fieldwork.
- K-12 Education Resources Curriculum materials integrating oral histories into K-12 classrooms. Includes civil rights lesson plans, African Americans in Appalachia, Pauli Murray educational resources, voting rights curriculum, HBCU lessons, and the Mapping Voices of North Carolina's Past interactive map with discussion guides.
- Oral History Resources Practical guides and resources for designing and conducting oral history projects including SOHP's Practical Guide to Oral History, Life History Question Sample Guide, links to Oral History Association best practices, and guidance on oral history and the law.
- Art & Oral History Incubator Year-long initiative bringing artists, archivists, scholars, and community collaborators into creative conversation with the SOHP archive. Includes a five-day intensive with six artists engaging with the collections at Wilson Library.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 6,000 oral history interviews freely accessible to the public
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Southern Oral History Program
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Southern Oral History Program technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration9 records
AI capability2 records
Feature1 record
Southern Oral History Program partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
14 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- Orange County GovernmentminorHoward Craft's Razor Sharp & Carolina Fresh project will partner with barbershops in Durham and Orange County to conduct oral histories and create original monologues and poems.
- National Humanities CenterminorCara Smelter's southern grief exhibition will be displayed at National Humanities Center in addition to UNC and NC State campuses.
- Project ThreadwayscoreSOHP collaboration with Project Threadways (founded by Natalie Chanin of Alabama Chanin) focusing on preserving and expanding oral history collection on textile labor, craft, community life, and creative practice across the South. Students conducted ten new interviews in the North Carolina Piedmont.
- NAACP Legal Defense FundcoreMulti-year partnership for the LDF Oral History Project documenting the behind-the-scenes strategies, lived experiences, and human stories that shaped some of the most consequential civil rights cases of the last century. Phase One completed with support from SOHP Field Scholars Susie Penman, Irene Newman, and Melody Hunter-Pillion.
- Union of Southern Service WorkerscoreCollaboration documenting voices of worker-organizers across the South. The USSW is a growing, cross-industry movement of low-wage workers organizing for dignity, fair pay, and safe working conditions. SOHP students conduct oral histories with union members and leaders.
- Carolina Pride Alum Network (CPAN)corePartner in The Story of Us project documenting LGBTQIA Carolina history. CPAN envisioned and funded the project to collect oral histories of LGBTQIA Carolina students, alumni, faculty, and staff.
- Carolina K-12coreCollaboration to create lesson plans on teaching about the American Civil Rights Movement through oral history clips for middle and high school students. Jointly created resources including Pauli Murray lessons, voting rights curriculum, and HBCU teaching materials.
- Carolina Asia CentercoreCollaboration with Southern Mix project dedicated to collecting and preserving Asian and Asian American oral histories in the US South.
- Wilson Special Collections LibrarycoreThe Southern Oral History Program interview archive is archived at the Southern Historical Collection in the Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library at UNC Chapel Hill.
- Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research at NC State UniversitycoreCollaboration on the North Carolina Community College Presidents of Color project (Trailblazer Profiles) aimed at elevating and centering the work of community college leaders of color.
- Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and CulturecorePartner in the Civil Rights History Project, a joint undertaking mandated by Congress in 2009, exploring the civil rights movement through oral histories.
- Duke University Bass Connections ProgramminorPartnership for collecting oral histories of environmental racism and injustice as part of Duke's Bass Connections initiative.
- Center for the Study of the American SouthcoreSOHP is housed within the Center for the Study of the American South at UNC Chapel Hill, sharing physical space and collaborating on programs and symposia.
- North Carolina Central UniversityminorPartner institution for Cara Smelter's southern grief exhibition exploring grief and Southern identity.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Southern Oral History Program competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Columbia University Center for Oral History Research: University-based oral history center at Columbia University with a comparable archive, research methodology, and graduate training program; directly analogous as a peer university-based oral history research center.
- StoryCorps: National nonprofit dedicated to recording, preserving, and sharing oral histories of Americans; directly comparable in mission, free public archive access, and educational outreach.
- Oral History Center at UC Berkeley: University-based oral history program within UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library conducting interviews and making them accessible to researchers; closely comparable as a peer academic oral history archive.
- Densho: Nonprofit organization preserving oral histories and digital archives of Japanese Americans incarcerated during WWII; comparable as a mission-driven oral history nonprofit with an emphasis on community-centered collection and free public access.
- Duke University Center for Documentary Studies: Adjacent university-based documentary and oral history program at Duke with overlapping Southern U.S. focus and educational mission; comparable peer institution with which SOHP already partners through Bass Connections.
- Voices of Civil Rights: Project and collection documenting the civil rights movement through oral histories; directly comparable as a peer oral history initiative with overlapping Southern U.S. and civil rights focus.
Broad incumbents
- Veterans History Project (Library of Congress): Federal initiative that collects, preserves, and makes accessible oral histories from U.S. war veterans; comparable as a large-scale oral history archive with national scope, though federally operated and topic-specific.
- Library of Congress American Folklife Center: Federal center within the Library of Congress that preserves and documents folklife traditions including oral histories; comparable as a large, well-funded oral and cultural heritage archive at national scale.
- Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture: National museum that collects oral histories related to African American experience; comparable on archive mission and a current SOHP partner in the Civil Rights History Project mandated by Congress.
Emerging players
- The National WWII Museum: Museum with an extensive oral history program capturing firsthand accounts of WWII-era experiences; comparable in oral history collection and educational programming, though with a narrower historical focus.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Southern Oral History Program social profiles
Digital presenceSouthern Oral History Program financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Southern Oral History Program leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Southern Oral History Program funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Southern Oral History Program M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Southern Oral History Program
What does Southern Oral History Program do?
The Southern Oral History Program collects, preserves, and provides free public access to a digital archive of more than 6,000 oral history interviews documenting the American South, featuring activists, educators, artists, millworkers, community leaders, and everyday people. It supplements the archive with digital exhibits, original research projects, K-12 curriculum, oral history workshops, and academic training programs (graduate field scholars, undergraduate internships).
Is Southern Oral History Program a public or private company?
Southern Oral History Program is a private company. It is classified as state government owned and is currently operating.
When was Southern Oral History Program founded?
Southern Oral History Program was founded in 1973. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Southern Oral History Program based?
Southern Oral History Program is headquartered in Chapel Hill, United States, in the North America region.
How does Southern Oral History Program make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Institutional Funding is the primary driver. The others are grants and Foundation Funding and donations.
Who are Southern Oral History Program's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Columbia University Center for Oral History Research, StoryCorps, Oral History Center at UC Berkeley, Densho, Duke University Center for Documentary Studies and Voices of Civil Rights. Broad incumbents are Veterans History Project (Library of Congress), Library of Congress American Folklife Center and Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. The National WWII Museum is listed as an emerging player.
Does Southern Oral History Program have an API?
No public API is recorded for Southern Oral History Program.
What industry is Southern Oral History Program in?
Southern Oral History Program's product category is Oral History Research and Archival Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAEAGAJ, Archives, Special Collections & Preservation Operations (Rare Materials, Conservation), with a secondary code of BPAGAHAF, Libraries, Archives & Special Collections. Its NAICS code is 519210 and its SIC code is 2741.