Capturing that which is Fleeting: Using History Harvests to Collect Rapid Response Oral Histories of Disaster Experience

This article interrogates how oral historians can meaningfully participate in rapid response research after disasters as part of both short- and long-term collection efforts. The article first examines the known barriers to setting up rapid response oral history projects. Second, it proposes the use of a modified public history collections method known as a "History Harvest" to provide a valuable baseline for community experience of an incident's impact that adds to current methods. Overall, this article emphasizes the importance of oral history collection in assisting communities in documenting their experiences with disasters and preserving memories of these events before they fade.