The Black Volumes records and shares the oral histories of people in the rural Black South—stories about the people, practices, institutions, and accomplishments that shape community life. The interviews focus especially on the cultural life of the region: work, leisure, folklore, local leaders, historic places, and the events communities still remember.

Each volume begins with a focal community that has expressed interest in documenting some aspect of its local history, along with a community partner who helps identify potential narrators. Oral history interviews typically last one to three hours and, when narrators are willing, are audio recorded and filmed. The interviews are transcribed and preserved in the Black Volumes digital archive.

Each volume includes a written community history and a public composition—an essay, photo collection, or film—developed from the interviews, along with the interview recordings, transcripts, and, where relevant, digitized photographs and documents.