San Antonio's cultural experience museum..
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Oral History Resources Historians have always interviewed witnesses of events dating back to the Greek Thucydides. Sometimes the Greeks used the interviews in oral performances to share stories of the past. American Indian tribes have used an oral tradition for centuries to pass on to the next generation their history and beliefs. African-American slaves used oral songs to pass on their memories. Although oral literature has been around for a long time, the emergence of oral history as an organized formal discipline didn't occur until the economic depression of the 1930s in America. Following the depression, Americans worked in government-sponsored projects as part of Roosevelt's New Deal. Field workers interviewed people to record and preserve America's history. An oral history was defined as "recorded interviews that preserve historically significant memories for future use." In 1966 teacher Eliot Wigginton gave birth to an oral history project called Foxfire in rural Ruban Gap, Georgia. The potential for significant student learning was apparent in the Foxfire project. A short ten years later, Pam Wood in Kennebunk, Maine, began working with students using oral histories in the SALT project. When Lincoln King of Carthage, Texas, a transplanted Mainer, read about the work of Eliot Wigginton, he started the Loblolly Project. Twenty-five years later, students are still producing the Loblolly magazine utilizing oral histories of local people. The 1970s and 1980s were fertile times for oral history. The "how to" books published in these years are still being used today. Oral history associations emerged and continue to this day with guidelines and criteria for deciding what makes a good oral history. There are few new publications in the subject of oral history, but with the advent of the Internet and another generation of students, the value of oral history as a vehicle for student learning is once again emerging as a viable instructional tool. Should you wish to learn more about oral history, the following selected resources are suggested: RESOURCES
This organization publishes the Oral History Review and the Oral History Newsletter . Charlton, Thomas L. Oral History for Texans. 2nd ed. Austin: Texas Historical Commission, 1985. This is the basic book used for producing oral histories in Texas. The "How to Interview" chapter provides a very useful list of things to do when interviewing, pages 25-32. DeBoe, David C. Sponsor's Handbook , Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1990. Includes a brief chapter of dos and don'ts on "Oral Interview Guidelines" developed by Wayland Baptist University Webb Society chapter. Kozma, LuAnne Gaykowski, FolkPatterns: Leader's Guide, A Cultural Heritage Project. Ann Arbor: Michigan State University Museum, 1991. A booklet designed for use with 4-H students with an outstanding 5-session unit entitled "Discovering My Own Traditions" for teaching students to do interviews and transcribing. Hyvig, David, and Myron A. Marty. Nearby History: Exploring the Past around You. Nashville, Tenn.: American Association for State and Local History, 1982; reprint, Walnut Creek, Calif.: AltaMira Press, Division of Sage Publication, Inc., 1996. This book includes a useful 17-page chapter on "Oral Documents." The authors make a distinction between oral history and oral folk history. Insight: Have Mike, Will Travel , vol. 3 (Winter 1990). Austin: Texas State Historical Association. This newsletter produced by the Texas State Historical Association in Austin has very useful do and don't guidelines for interviewing. Ives, Edward D. The Tape-Recorded Interview: A Manual for Field Workers in Folklore and Oral History. 1974; reprint, Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1990. This is a book for the serious instructor of oral history. It is comprehensive but tends to be outdated. "Oral History," Magazine of History 11, no. 3 (Spring 1997). Very best resource with articles based on teacher experience. Includes helpful lesson plans utilizing counseling techniques applied to doing interviews. Produced by Organization of American History in Indiana, (812) 855-7311; oah@indiana.edu; Rife, Douglas M. A Family History Handbook. Logan, Iowa: Perfection Learning Corporation, 1985. Chapter on "Oral History: From the Source's Mouth" is a useful resource found on open/closed questions and open/closed interviews, pages 57-65. Sitton, Thad, George Mehaffy, and O.L. Davis Jr. Oral History: A Guide for Teachers and Others. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1983. The standard book to introduce persons to oral history. Complete and comprehensive with criteria for judging audiotapes and transcripts. It is weak on interviewing. Internet Sites While there are many institutions that provide oral history Web sites, few at this time contain the actual oral history transcripts or provide substantive information to assist educators in teaching students how to do oral histories. http://omega.dickinson.edu/organizations/oha This is the site for the national Oral History Association with information about their conferences, awards, links to oral history sites, and guidelines for evaluating oral histories. http://www.h-net.msu.edu/~oralhist This is the site of another oral history association with links to other sites that are valuable for those doing oral histories. http://www.stg.brown.edu/projects/WWII_Women/tocCS.html This site presents oral histories of Rhode Island Women during World War II conducted and transcribed by students in the Honors English Program at South Kingstown High School. http://www.muohio.edu/oralhistory This site about the Miami Valley Cultural Heritage Project invites you to submit oral histories relating to family histories. It includes extensive information about conducting interviews. The material here is a good supplement to the basic material in this packet. http://learning.loc.gov/learn/lessons/oralhist/ohhome.html This site produced by the Library of Congress is wonderful! It contains fine instructional materials for the teacher to use oral histories in the classroom and offers directions for doing oral histories as well as presenting actual oral histories. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/BANC/ROHO/ This site is produced by the regional oral history office of the Bancroft Library. It provides a small section on "Tips for Doing Oral Histories" and guidelines which are useful.
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