Storytelling and oral histories are some of the most important keepers of identity, history, and culture for the people of Antigua and Barbuda; however, they are also lost to history if the lineage of passing these stories from one person to another is disrupted. In recent years, Antigua and Barbuda has mourned the loss of influential community elders such as calypsonian Rupert 'The Mighty Swallow' Philo (2020) and considering the importance of oral history keeping within Caribbean culture, the loss of such individuals represents an irreplaceable loss of musical history, information, and tradition. For other Antiguan musical traditions, such as steelbands, rote teaching is the primary teaching process, and here, like many other parts of the Caribbean, this vestige of traditional African ancestry guides most elements of the pedagogy in steelbands. Therefore, the Antigua Oral History project aims to capture the stories and histories of Antigua and Baruba's musical past as told by those who lived and experienced them, in their own words. 

Step One: starting in October of 2024 Project Director Dr. Andrew Martin will provide oral history training for at least 100-200 students and communities members across Antigua and Barbuda. These trainings are free and open to public and will focus on music and the Carnival arts of Antigua and Barbuda. 

Step Two: newly minted fieldworkers will collect/conduct interviews over the course of the next year, from Fall 2024 to Fall 2025

Step Three: recorded interviews will be collated, transcribed, and edited, and uploaded into a freely accessible project website/database of Antiguan Oral Histories hosted by Antigua and Barbuda's Ministry of Culture. 

Step Four: Antigua Oral History website and database will be a permanent site hosted by the Ministry of Culture. This project’s web resources and training are an ongoing project and after the first year Project Director Dr. Andrew Martin will hand over leadership of the project to a local partner in an effort to continue the person-to-person diplomacy educational resources of comprehensively capturing Antigua and Barbuda’s musical/cultural history in a digital medium easily accessible to younger generations.