Writing Family History, Oral History and Preservation Writing: Research Gathering all available...
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Donald G. Godfrey, Ph.D. Walter Cronkite School of Journalism , Arizona State The heritage of the past Is the seed That brings forward the harvest of the future. Wendell Phillips (1811-1894)
Writing Family History, Oral History and Preservation Writing: Research Gathering all available information Organization Oral History: Research Develop
Writing Family History, Oral History and Preservation Writing:
Research Gathering all available information Organization Oral
History: Research Develop and organize of key questions Processing
the interview data Preservation: Organizing the box Assessing the
materials Documentary Preservation
Slide 3
Charles Francis Jenkins (1867-1934) Mark the word impossible
out of the dictionary. First Motion-Picture Projector First U.S.
Television Picture Radio Finds its Eyes
http://www.amazon.com/Donald- G.-Godfrey/e/B001H6V1KO
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Pioneers of Television Philo Farnsworth (1906-1971) First
public demonstration of electronic television August 1934
http://www.amazon.com/Donald-G.-Godfrey/e/B001H6V1KO Elma
Farnsworth (1908-2006)
Slide 5
Your History is Americas History It harbors beauty and is
essential to your family and society. (Peter Stearns, Past
President American Historical Association) Changes the world, the
family, and preserves the good. (Robert W. McChesney, Media
Historian) context History is context... Understanding the time
what is happening at any given moment. (Christopher Sterling, Dean
George Washington University)
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Research All the Available Evidence: Written & Photographic
All of the available evidence is... Gathering Gathering
andPreparing Journals Family recollections are the most important!
Interviews Analyzing photographs
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Research All the Available: Physical Evidence Family Papers
Bibles Letters Certificates, diplomas, invitations Maps, weather
http://ncdc.noaa.gov/ Newspaper clippings
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.go v/
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Research All the Available Evidence: Meanings in Antiques
Antiques Clothing China and silverware Furniture Works of art Items
of value to the individual and family History of items as related
to the family Creations of Individuals or Family What is in the box
in the attic? Why were things kept? What is the story surrounding
and saving the item?
Slide 9
Research All the Available Evidence: The Family Tree Climbing
the Tree # of generations back Females and males Putting green
leaves on the dead tree, giving them life
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Context Research All Available Evidence: Context What was your
familys place in history? Roaring 20s Great Depression World War I
or II The Cold War Social Revolution National and local contexts
Context Context provides a broader perspective and makes the
individual stories more meaningful.
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Share Your Research As you research... Share anecdotes that
give life Print stories for your family occasions such as
birthdays, Christmas reunions. Create a family web, Facebook page,
or simply an e- mail list of family relative SHARE And it will come
back to you 10-fold!
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Research All the Available Evidence: Finding Help local Reach
out to local, regional, university and national archives Contact
hometown experts Visit local historical societies local Visit local
museums locals Search out the local libraries where family lived Go
online, be thorough and cautious Print and file that which you
collect Stay alert... Research is ever ongoing process
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Organizing and Writing Establish a focus Determine a size Books
of 250 pages = approximately 100,000+ words The average person
writes 3-pages of their own story Anthologies can be collections of
any length Focus on people What is the context of a persons life
What was going on during the time they lives
Slide 14
Writing Outline, organize your research, and start writing
Check our other histories noting layout and design Stick to one
font ( Times Roman ) throughout Use headers to guide the reader and
your organization Keep photos to appropriate size and clarity
Slide 15
Publishing Print the family history Print copies will never be
out of date or need new software Publish it digitally Digital
copies are easier to share, the can be interactive and will
eventually need new software If we do not preserve the stories of
people we care about, they will be lost.
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Oral History Old Woman: You get old and you cant do anybody any
good any more. Boy: You do me some good grandma. You tell me
things. (Robert Penn Warren, Being Here)
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Oral History Is About A method of recording Methods of
preserving oral testimony The product of that process
(http://www.oralhistory.org/about/principles-and-practices/)
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Oral History: Pre-Interview Seek advice and training to prepare
yourself Select the appropriate candidate Conduct background
research on the candidate Where was s/he born Facts about family
parents, spouse, children, occupation and community, but be
careful, this is pre-interview. Learn about the context, the
timeline of paralleling history
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Oral History: Pre-Interview, cont. Get in touch with the person
early, but... Explain why you want the interview Give them time to
prepare in their mind Prepare an outline guide of topics and
questions
Slide 20
Oral History: Pre-Interview Questions Preparation Closed
questions solicit a specific response Open ended Open ended
questions encourage comfortable responses that can be lengthy
Consider your person
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Oral History: Pre-Interview, The Equipment Purchase, beg,
borrow, or rent a reliable recorder and learn how to use it Use an
external microphone Use a power cord Or bring fresh batteries
Slide 22
Oral History: Pre-Interview, Outline Create a broad outline
Make a list of topics and subtopics Bring it to the interview!
Bring it to the interview! Use as template Make notes on it Circle
questions answered by not asked. Organize yourself Remain
Flexible!
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Oral History: Interviewing Set up equipment and stage the
setting quickly Make the interviewee comfortable Best interviews
are one-to-one ______________________________ Record your subjects
name, the date and your name Begin with a broad open ended
question
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Oral History: Interviewing DO NOT be afraid to stray form your
outline!!! DO NOT interrupt the interviewee! DO NOT jump in asking
a new question!! Do not jump up to look at photos!!
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Oral History Interviewing DO remember, ask open ended questions
DO respect the right of your subject Regarding items they do not
want to discuss Leave sensitive topics to the end DO demonstrate a
strong interest in your interviewee DO keep notes on your outline
DO check over your outline at the end
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Oral History Interviewing Be a good listener! Be an attentive
listener!! Shut-up and Listen!!! Shut-up and Listen!!!
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The Oral History Mind The question The answer
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Oral History: After the Interview Label the recording
immediately Transcriptions are invaluable Do them soon afterward
They become the permanent record Storage issues?
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Oral History: Transcriptions Transcribe the interview verbatim
Add only Add only sentence and paragraph structure Listen to the
interview and check it with the interviewee Re-interview for
additional information if necessary Add desired photos Bind and
publish for the family Roswell Bookbinding
http://www.roswellbookbinding.com/
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A Last World on Oral History Dont stop with one interview Keep
going! Oral history takes practice and the ability to see each
interviewee as a unique person and a unique opportunity. Oral
history takes practice and the ability to see each interviewee as a
unique person and a unique opportunity. Every person has a
story.
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Preservation : The Box Under the Bed Create a Family Archive
Create a Family Archive: Organize the content according to the type
of record: journals, scrapbooks, papers, photographs, oral
histories Organize artifacts: clothing, furniture, plaques,
decorative items, etc.
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Preservation: The Box Under the Bed cont. Organize the content
by category, type or chronology Label the content by author,
creator, or ownership Inventory your collection Circulate the
inventory to the family and ask questions
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Preservation: Artifacts Local Museums, Libraries or Historical
Societies will have books and articles on historic artifacts as
well as ways to preserve them Use upright boxes for papers and
photograph files Acid free Archival and Storage Materials
http://www.hollingermetale dge.com/ http://www.hollingermetale
dge.com/
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Preservation and Restoration Ask an expert first before
attempting restoration! Ask an expert first before attempting
restoration! Restoration can increase or decrease the value of an
artifact Book Binding & Restoration Use only a library bind for
preservation For restoration and binding:
http://www.roswellbookbind ing.com/ http://www.roswellbookbind
ing.com/
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Preservation: Using An Anthology Anthologies are collections of
writings organized and published for purposes of preservation If
you to not want to write your family history... Create an
anthology!
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Creating a Family Anthology Select written and photographic
items carefully Start with what is written Dont get tempted to
include the world Carefully organize them in a manner you think is
meaningful Create a manuscript/book form from your materials
Graphic artists and professional editors can advise Give them to
your family for Christmas
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Documentary Editing and Preservation Documentary editing
preserves the original Making the information readily accessible
Association for Documentary Editing http://www.documentar
yediting.org/wordpress/ http://www.documentar
yediting.org/wordpress/ See: Mary Jo Kline, A Guide to Documentary
Editing
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Documentary Preservation Countless Family & Oral
Histories
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So what to family historians do, when they are not doing
genealogy? Grave diggers. They take old bones from one graveyard
and bury them in another. They hope that in the transfer, Someones
family history will be revealed and new insights will be learned
and preserved.