The New Zealand Antarctic Society began commissioning oral histories in 1997 to record the memories of those whose Antarctic stories would otherwise be lost to future generations and to encourage researchers to make use of oral history in their work. The oral history programme includes more than 50 interviews of significant Antarcticans who have been active during the past 60 years. It is the largest Antarctic oral archive in New Zealand documenting the experiences of New Zealanders working in Antarctica from New Zealand’s first involvement in the late 1950s to the present. The Society considers the oral history programme an important source of information in relation to science, scientific methods, transportation, communication and logistics as well interviewees’ personal experiences of living and working ‘down south’ and a historical review of New Zealand’s involvement in Antarctica.

The Society’s Mount Erebus Disaster oral history project, now catalogued and able to be requested by researchers through the Alexander Turnbull Library, explores the Air New Zealand crash on the slopes of Mount Erebus in 1979 from the perspective of New Zealanders who helped with the recovery of bodies and luggage, those who were working at Scott Base at the time and people at the Head Office, Antarctic Division, Christchurch. These topic based oral history interviews set out to tell the story of the recovery from “the Antarctic end of things” and add to the record of personal experiences of the disaster.