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BWS Associates
Company Information
Contact: Barbara w. sommer (Oral historian, owner of bws associates)
583 maple park drive
Mendota heights, Mn 55118
Business 651-492-7924
Mobile 651-797-3645
Year Established: 1993
Specialties: Historians, Oral; Museum Consultants
Training/Experience: I often work with and mentor oral historians in Minnesota. In doing so, I guide others in doing oral history. My own training and experience spans four decades of work in public history and oral history both in the state and on a national level. I also provide consulting services to museums, with a focus on exhibit development.
Notes: I am a public historian with a specialty in oral history. I have led or co-led more than 40 oral history projects and am the author or co-author of a number of the leading books in the field, including The Oral History Manual, The American Indian Oral History Manual, and the Community Oral History Toolkit. I am available to consult on oral history project development and to do oral history projects. I am also an experienced oral history workshop leader, both in the state and nationally, with specific experience in the Library of Congress Veterans History Project.
Awards:
Minnesota Alliance of Local History Museums (MALHM) - 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award
Hard Work and a Good Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps in Minnesota by Barbara Sommer. Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2008.
- Minnesota Book Award in the Minnesota Category (2009)
- Northeast Minnesota Book Award in the General Nonfiction Category (2009)
- Award of Merit from the American Association of State and Local History (2009)
Projects
Project: HIV Care Providers Oral History Project
Location: Minnesota, statewide
Year: 2012-2016
Project: Minnesota History of Philanthropy Oral History Project
Location: Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
Year: 2014-ongoing
Project: Commission of Deaf
Location:
Year: 2011
Project: DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing Minnesotans Oral History Project.
Location:
Year: 2011