There were two things that immediately came to mind when I started reading about oral histories. First I thought of my volunteer job at the Moorestown historical society. I often give tours of the Smith-Cadbury mansion to older folks from the town. I always think it's interesting when they tell me their own personal history and the town's history as I'm showing them around.
The second thing I thought of was a different volunteer job that I just started at Pitman Manor. There were a variety of different things I could do there (I'm working on service credits for an honor society), but the job I ended up with was to help an elderly woman record her history for her daughter. I'll be doing this with her this upcoming Saturday. I think this article will help give me some direction with this project.
Memorable Quotes:
"While methods of eliciting and recording them were more or less rigorous in any given case, the absence of audio- and videotape recorders--or digital recording devices--necessitated reliance on human note-takers, thus raising questions about reliability and veracity."
This part made me think of the Bible. I don't want to start a religious rant (and I was raised Catholic) but I have never believed in the Bible, at least not word for word. Some people use exact quotes from the Bible to make certain social and political points. But while the Bible is now written record, and started out as note-taking and pure oral history, which I don't think can be 100% reliable.
"Few people leave self-conscious records of their lives for the benefit of future historians. Some are illiterate; others, too busy. Yet others don't think of it, and some simply don't know how. And many think--erroneously, to be sure--that they have little to say that would be of historical value. By recording the firsthand accounts of an enormous variety of narrators, oral history has, over the past half-century, helped democratize the historical record."
I like that the every day, ordinary person still plays and important part in recording history.
"Oral history interviews are often quite simply good stories. Like literature, their specificity, their deeply personal, often emotionally resonant accounts of individual experience draw listeners--or readers--in, creating interest and sympathy. Edited carefully, they can open the listener to a life very different from his or her own in a non-threatening way. Contextualized thoughtfully, they can help a reader understand personal experience as something deeply social."
I am working on a non-fiction book about someone's life right now. I am interested primarily in creative non-fiction and writing about real people's lives as a career path. This paragraph really added fuel to my interest.
The second thing I thought of was a different volunteer job that I just started at Pitman Manor. There were a variety of different things I could do there (I'm working on service credits for an honor society), but the job I ended up with was to help an elderly woman record her history for her daughter. I'll be doing this with her this upcoming Saturday. I think this article will help give me some direction with this project.
Memorable Quotes:
"While methods of eliciting and recording them were more or less rigorous in any given case, the absence of audio- and videotape recorders--or digital recording devices--necessitated reliance on human note-takers, thus raising questions about reliability and veracity."
This part made me think of the Bible. I don't want to start a religious rant (and I was raised Catholic) but I have never believed in the Bible, at least not word for word. Some people use exact quotes from the Bible to make certain social and political points. But while the Bible is now written record, and started out as note-taking and pure oral history, which I don't think can be 100% reliable.
"Few people leave self-conscious records of their lives for the benefit of future historians. Some are illiterate; others, too busy. Yet others don't think of it, and some simply don't know how. And many think--erroneously, to be sure--that they have little to say that would be of historical value. By recording the firsthand accounts of an enormous variety of narrators, oral history has, over the past half-century, helped democratize the historical record."
I like that the every day, ordinary person still plays and important part in recording history.
"Oral history interviews are often quite simply good stories. Like literature, their specificity, their deeply personal, often emotionally resonant accounts of individual experience draw listeners--or readers--in, creating interest and sympathy. Edited carefully, they can open the listener to a life very different from his or her own in a non-threatening way. Contextualized thoughtfully, they can help a reader understand personal experience as something deeply social."
I am working on a non-fiction book about someone's life right now. I am interested primarily in creative non-fiction and writing about real people's lives as a career path. This paragraph really added fuel to my interest.
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