Oral History

1. Oral History Exploring Projects in the College Classroom

2. What is Oral History? An oral history begins when one person tells a story about his or her own experiences to another person and culminates in a sound recording that preserves that person’s account for posterity.

3. FOLKLORE DATA vs TEXT Narrative analysis Public memory Shared authority memory as construction Methodology Like ethnography, oral history is multidisciplinary; it is employed by social scientists in many situations seeking answers to a variety of research questions.

4. Oral History Association “Oral history is a way of collecting and interpreting human memories to foster knowledge and human dignity.”

5. What is an oral historian? • Oral history has always been multi-disciplinary • History degree is not a pre-requisite • Properly trained students as well as scholars can make good interviewers • Principles, standards and guidelines can be followed by virtually anyone • Many oral history projects are one-person operations: • Prepare grant proposals • Train interviewers • Seek out interviewees • Select equipment • Manage documentation • Deposit interviews in libraries/museums • Handle publicity for the project

6. Curiosity Patience

7. Ready? “Most oral historians learn by doing, and our understanding of the theories of interviewing and our interpretation have more often followed than preceded our interviewing . . . . Stop worrying and actually do some interviews.” (Ritchie, 2006, p. 16)

8. Storycorps Great Questions List Who has been the biggest influence on your life? What lessons did that person Share with you? What is your earliest memory? How has your life been different than what you’d imagined? How would you like to be remembered? Is there anything that you’ve never told me but want to tell me now? When did you find first find out that you’d be a parent? How did you feel? How has being a parent changed you? How did you choose my name? How did you meet your husband/wife?

9. Family & Friends Plan • Describe the person you’d most like to choose to interview for a StoryCorps project if you had the opportunity. This must be a person that you have access to in real life (i.e. only living people, no celebrities, etc.). What are your reasons for wanting to interview this person? What kinds of questions would you ask? What sort of responses do you think you might get? What would you envision for a video animation version of your interview? You will not be required to actually interview this person as part of this assignment.

10. Sample Responses I would like to interview my grandfather who served in the Korean War . . . He raised me after my father died when I was four years old . . . I’d like to ask him about losing his only son . . . I imagine asking my mother whether she really favored my brother, because it always felt that way when we were growing up. . . . I want to know how my parents met. I got interested in this because they’ve never told me this story and I love the show “How I Met Your Mother.” I imagine they will make the story suspenseful and interesting.

11. Fish Bowl Interview Memories of 9/11 Guiding question: What were YOU doing, thinking, feeling on September 11, 2001.

12. Informed Consent & Other Fine Print Institutional Review Boards (IRB) Tuskegee syphilis experiments The Belmont Report (1979) Informed Consent: The right to make decisions about one’s own behavior Beneficence: Minimizing of harm and maximizing of benefits in research Justice: Equitable selection of research subjects

13. Preparing for an Interview Learn about the general subject matter and the people to be interviewed Construct a timeline of events in the subject’s life history. Read or listen to other oral histories on the subject. Find a repository for your interview (library, museum, online resource). Prepare statement of purpose, consent, and deed-of-gift forms. Compose a 300-500 word biographical sketch about yourself to share. Approach potential interview subjects to seek permission for an interview. Schedule a pre-interview meeting to establish rapport. Familiarize yourself with your recording equipment.

14. Crafting Questions Chronological vs. Topical Start slow: Build up to “home run” questions Include personal, customized questions. Mix open-ended and specific questions Avoid leading or manipulative questions. Do not interrupt.

15. Pre-Interview Meeting Pre-test several of your questions at the pre-interview meeting. Take notes on unfamiliar subjects raised to direct additional preparation. Keep the meeting short (30 minutes is appropriate). Do not record the pre-interview meeting. Take notes. Evaluate suitability of location for recording (noise, interruption, comfort) General guideline: 5 hours of prep for every hour of interviewing.

16. Conducting the Interview EquipmentCheck New batteries Power cord/outlet Test and playback Visible placement Eliminate noise No phones Sign on door

17. Special Considerations • Avoid going “off the record.” • Conclude interview with review of publishing process. • Process interviews as quickly as possible. • If possible, have interview transcribed and edited. • If not transcribed, index or tag the recording.

18. Extending Oral History Multimedia Uses Student Projects