We are completing a citywide oral history of the lives of worcester. Adams lightly edited the transcript from 2015 to 2016. This oral history is based on a series of about 25 hours of interview sessions with representative helen sommers on her 36year career representing the 36th legislative district in seattle from 19732009. Also consider holding mock interviews between students to practice interview skills and questioning before the actual interview occurs. What is your full name and why were you named this.
While this book prioritizes the documentation of folklife, by which we mean traditional culture and heritage, the guidelines offered here for interview. Gender stereotypes, or how much like traditional men and women the spouses were in their emotional expressions and responses. Oral history project guidelines minnesota historical society. Preparing for an oral history interview is perhaps the most important step in the oral history process. Guidelines for oral history interviews the history channel student. Written by linda shopes, this guide presents an overview of oral history and ways historians use it, tips on questions to ask when reading or listening to oral history interviews, a sample interpretation of an interview, an annotated bibliography, and a guide to finding and using oral history. Students can also ask the interviewee if they have any letters, photographs, or objects. Assessment in couples therapy the gottman oral history. Holmans descriptive guide to the societys oral history interview collection. The literature about memory ranges across several academic disciplines and is daunting in size and scope. Joseph echols lowery oral history interview conducted by. The release form also states that the information or materials could be reproduce, edited, published, republished for any purposes such as.
Whether conducting their own research or developing an institutional project, first time interviewers and others involved in oral history projects should seek training to prepare themselves for all stages of the oral history process. Make the narrator as relaxed as possiblehave him or her sit in a. Memory and remembering in oral history oxford handbooks. An explanation of the steps involved in doing oral. Use of the oral history interview to assess communication and marital satisfaction in laterlife couples daniel james harkness iowa state university follow this and additional works at. In such cases, an interview can flash and reflect even an insight into a specific problem.
Preparation encompasses the practice of interviewing to include familiarization with the equipment to be used and learning the methodology of oral history, selecting individuals to be interviewed, setting the stage for interviews, acquiring the knowledge necessary to conduct an. Attorneys office, and running for congress against barry goldwater. In 1976 the forest history society published barbara d. Herodotus, if you recall, set down many of his stories from accounts he heard an his travels. The same or similar questions may produce different answers because of the particular bond between an interviewer and an interviewee. However, often an ice breaker and a wellchosen question here and there will keep the conversation going. Oral history program california secretary of state. Memory is not a passive depository of facts, but an active process of creation of meanings. Oral history interview guidelines vii to different interviewers. The oral history book is a oneonone interview with representative sommers. He remembers joining the national association for the advancement of colored people naacp, the differences in race relations between mobile and other southern cities, and helping to found the southern christian leadership conference sclc.
Joseph lowery recalls his position as pastor at the warren street church in mobile, alabama, in the 1950s. Oral history workshop page 3 but it can easily be adapted for use in anything from a single interview to a research project involving a number of subjects. A third approach is concerned with recording oral history interviews with family members about aspects of their lives and memories of other relatives and important events in the familys history. Regional oral history office 486 the bancroft library university of california berkeley, california 94720 the request should include information of the specific passages and identification of the user. Use a question list as a guide, but its ok if the conversation leads your daughter to ask questions not on the list, or her grandparents to tell stories not related to a particular question. At the time of the interview, be sure to explain again why you are interviewing this person. Oral history interviews began in the summer of 1997, and since that time more than 1001 individuals have participated in the nasa oral history projects in more than 1,299 oral history sessions. Limit your own remarks to some small talk to make the narrator. July 16, 2012 mountain view, california chm reference number. The interviews are also searchable via the oral history section of the fhs research portal, which. Conducting an oral history offers students an opportunity to. Guide to oral history interviews forest history society.
A release usually includes the interviewees name and signature, the interviewers name, the date, a statement of permission to use the interview, the name of the person or. The focus should be on the interviewee and they should do most of the talking, with occasional questions from you to guide the interview in directions you think are the most productive. In addition to the workshops that we offer to community groups, we are happy to provide this manual as a resource and guide to oral history interviewing. Looking at old family photos may spark her grandparents memories, too. The whole point of the interview is to make sure the narrator tells his or her own story. By showing how national or international events affected the lives of individuals, oral history adds a personal dimension to the study of the past. A variety of other circumstances also can affect the interview the setting, a personal difficulty, the weather.
You can schedule another session at a later date if you want to continue recording the oral history. Jan 31, 2020 oral history interviews began in the summer of 1997, and since that time more than 1001 individuals have participated in the nasa oral history projects in more than 1,299 oral history sessions. An oral history interview is not about the interviewer. Oral history interview guidebook national heritage board. In ideal terms, oral history interviews infuse the past with new lifefrom the memories and mouths of living sources of history. Sample questions to conduct an oral history interview. Regardless of the type of interview to be conducted, preparation is the key to a successful oral history interview. Oral history biographical sketch filling out this form before the interview may help the interviewer ask more appropriate and interesting questions. Margaret mead, american cultural anthropologist the significance of oral history rests with its potential to offer new knowledge, perspectives, and interpretations of the past. Interview can also be conducted on a single event or a particular theme.
Sample oral history consent form carefully edit for your individual project. Great interview questions tell your story with evalogue. Here are a series of questions that you can use when interviewing a family member. For instance, you could check ives, the taperecorded interview, neuenschwander, oral history and the law, or sitton et al. Allow students three to four hours of class time and seven to eight hours of homework time to conduct and write up the oral history. The focus should be on the interviewee and they should do most of the talking, with occasional questions from you to guide them in directions you think are the most productive. It features a general guide to conducting an interview, as well as a sample list of questions that may be adapted to your own needs and circumstances. Students seldom get the chance to act as historians who record and interpret history for themselves and for others. Greene discusses his family and early life, career, and move to california.
Anyone from any country is welcome to participate in the oral history project. Recording oral histories can be a very effective way of capturing information that is difficult to obtain by any other means. Heilbron, oral history interview, conducted 1991 and 1992 by carole hicke, regional oral history office, university of california at berkeley, for the california state archives state government oral history program. Use of the oral history interview to assess communication. Expansiveness, or how expressive each partner was during the interview. Oral history office attachment iii oral history interview tips 1. Preparation encompasses the practice of interviewing to include familiarization with the equipment to be used and learning the methodology of oral history, selecting individuals to be interviewed, setting the stage for interviews, acquiring the. In general, a chronological organization is usually the best structure for an oral history interview. Part of thefamily, life course, and society commons,gerontology commons, and thesocial psychology commons. Since that time the guide has been maintained solely as an online resource. Each hour of recorded interview requires an average of forty hours of preparation and processing. Feb 18, 20 expansiveness, or how expressive each partner was during the interview. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows.
The interviewee shouldnt feel compelled to complete the entire form, but only those parts of it that are applicable and relevant. Oral history helps round out the story of the past. Once you have decided upon a topic or event in history, you will need to locate a narrator also called the interviewee whose experiences are relevant to your topic. Weness versus separateness, or how much the spouses saw themselves as part of a team as opposed to emphasizing their independence. In this interview, wendy also touches on her experiences as a young working mother and the changes that she witnessed in the main south neighborhood over the years. These interview information are basing on the experiences in the form of a testimony of a particular person or group of people. As a potential participant in the sam johnson vietnam archive oral history project, you may be curious about what is involved with being interviewed. Preface this oral history is based on a series of about 25 hours of interview sessions with representative helen sommers on her 36year career representing the 36th legislative district in seattle from 19732009. My name is erin anderson and im here with wendy wheelerin leicester and it is october 24th, 2006. Remember that for an oral history, the person whom you are interviewing must have lived through that event or time period and must be able to recall details and. He discusses his time in a law practice and his developing interest in politics. Interview summaries, g california secretary of state.
A transcript of an oral history interview is, in the words of one style guide, at best an imperfect representation of an oral interview. The vietnam center and sam johnson vietnam archive. Preparing for an oral history interview involves five basic steps. Smithsonian folklife and oral history interview guide introduction in the presence of grandparent and grandchild, past and future merge in the present. Oral histories in the classroom oral history interviews have been widely recognized by many historians as a unique and distinctive technique by which to document the history of a specific individual, family, organization or group, community, timeperiod, or event. Why oral history is important it is a good idea to go into an interview with a few questions prepared, and especially highlight any that you want to make sure you ask. What are the most important lessons youve learned in life. Some oral historians instruct their transcribers to record the interview word for word, while others allow for greater latitude. You are there to record someone elses experiences, not to talk about yourself. Make sure you record the interview for posterity and in case your daughter.
Who is the oldest person you can remember in your family from when you were a child. There are three ways to view the names of the various oral history project participants. Name of project andor organizations involved in this project informed consent form 1. Download sample questions to conduct an oral history interview. Oral history interview questions worksheet oral history is an interview that records a persons recollection of experiences, thoughts, and feelings about a specific event or a period of time. Picking an interview topic first, you must decide upon some event or period of history. It will help to understand the multifaceted dimensions and under currents of an event or situation. Clauser in may 20, while the remainder was transcribed by wendy l. Russell, director santa barbara, california 931069010 805 8938215 oral history methodology, the art of interviewing oral history is as old as antiquity. Below are some sample topics and questions that you can use when you record oral histories.
Family history questions do you remember hearing your grandparents describe their lives. Transcribing and editing an oral history interview is a matter of personal style, but there are some important guidelines for basic transcript production. Adams, ihss director of oral history as of april 2014, in 2014. Family history questions for kids to ask grandparents. Barbara smith, interview by loretta ross, transcript of video recording, may 7, 2003, voices of feminism oral history project, sophia smith collection, pp. The following is a brief synopsis of the steps and procedures involved in the interview process. Recording an oral history should be fun, not hard work. An oral history primer the nebraska state historical societys collections contain hundreds of oral history interviews, some conducted by society staff over the years. This article also considers approaches to memory and remembering, which can enhance oral.
Anderson, board of trustees professor of physics, emeritus and nobel laureate, begins with his recollections of his undergraduate years at caltech 19231927, and the influence of arthur amos noyes and ira sprague bowen. This article focuses on the importance of memory and remembering in oral history. Voices of feminism oral history project, sophia smith collection. An oral history interview release form contains information that are released from the person who are connected historically or at least have such information regarding the past events. The transcribers most important task is to render as close a replica to the actual event as possible. Do you want to conduct an oral history interview yourself or participate in a larger oral history project. The handout titled oral history interview questions worksheet may help guide this process. It was created to provide clinicians with a tool which explores the history and the philosophy of the couples relationship. The semistructured interview process is a key tool in these methodologies.
Discovering oral history 1 oral history is a sound recording of historical information, obtained through an interview that preserves a persons life history or eyewitness account of a past experiencebut read on. At the heart of every oral history encounter stands an interview with. My second sister, louise, was a bit younger than ruth. He talks about establishing a consulting engineers firm, then closing it and running for the assembly. Immigration oral history assignment guiding questions for oral history interview oral history. Sample questions to conduct an oral history interview please tell me your name, your birthdate, our relationship, and where we are. Oral history interviews produce an individuals account. The smithsonian folklife and oral history interviewing guide. This booklet presents some guidelines smithsonian folklorists have developed over the years for collecting folklife and oral history from family and community members.
Guidelines for oral history interviews the history channel student workbook adapted from michael gatto why do some students hate to study history. This approach is in keeping with the belief that oral history is a brokered discipline which draws its. Mar 06, 2020 preparing for an oral history interview is perhaps the most important step in the oral history process. The oral history interview is a semistructured interview conducted in the couples home, in which the interviewer asks a set of openended. History too often seems like the study of long lists of names, events and dates. Italics indicate portions that require editing, but there may be other statements that do not apply, or need to be edited. Oral history provides a fuller, more accurate picture of the past by augmenting the information provided by public records, statistical data, photographs, maps, letters, diaries, and other historical materials. This wideranging 1979 interview in eight sessions with carl d. The oral history interview is a part of the gottman couples therapy method. Honorable stanley mosk oral history interview, conducted 1998 by germaine. An oral interview release from states that the person is granting the company and the authorized personnel of the rights and permission to use the materials from the oral history interviews conducted. This manual includes tips on designing an oral history project. History project and storycorps are leading the way in a new era of oral history collecting, and both of their collections are part of the american folklife center archive.
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