Gathings, JenniferDayrit Mayfield, CatherineThis presentation was shared at the Fall 2024 virtual conference of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC). The session consisted of two speakers: Jennifer Gathings and Catherine Dayrit Mayfield from University of Maryland. They presented about the principles and theory of oral history collections in archives as a form of documentary history within the context of community archives and elevating underrepresented peoples in archival repositories. Rethinking archival description of oral histories across the archival lifecycle was discussed to expedite access and reflect the individual nature of oral histories in a more ethical, narrator-centered way. Speakers shared a case study interview that served as a basis to develop new procedures from oral history accessioning through to metadata creation for online access. The need for updated guidance on consistent description that will benefit users was discussed as well as the advantages and challenges to this approach.en-USPresentation