ORAL HISTORY PROJECT HIST 1302 Dr. Bill Stowe Conduct interviews with at least 2 people about what life was like for them when they were in their teens and twenties (13-29 years old). Your interviewees must meet the following qualifications: One person must have been born between 1960 and 1970. One person born between 1946 and 1956. All interviewees must have grown up in the United States. Your interviewees should be as diverse as possible: men and women who grew up in different locales (small towns, cities, rural areas, etc.) people of different racial or ethnic backgrounds because their experiences may have been very different from each other, etc. DO NOT INTERVIEW YOUR PARENTS or other people who consider themselves a role model or authority figure to you. They have a vested interest in presenting an image to you and therefore might not be completely forthcoming. DO NOT INTERVIEW MORE THAN ONE INDIVIDUAL AT A TIME. People may tend to shade their answers if their peers or spouses are present. CONDUCT INTERVIEWS ONE ON ONE. A group interviewing one person could be intimidating. THE PURPOSE OF THESE INTERVIEWS These interviews are to learn about the living history of the time period in which your interviewees grew up. In doing so you will develop networking skills, research skills, data collection skills from primary sources, information origination skills plus oral and written communication skills. Explore their lives and what they experienced at school, work, church, parties, and home, with their family and friends. Ask them how major events influenced or impacted their lives (wars, science/technology, politics, movements, social practices, etc.) REMEMBER, PEOPLE DO NOT NECESSARILY HAVE TO PARTICIPATE IN AN EVENT OR MOVEMENT TO HAVE AN OPINION OR FEELINGS ABOUT IT OR TO HAVE IT IMPACT OR INFLUENCE THEIR LIVES. When you have completed your interviews, you should have a clear picture of how things were different “back then,” and perhaps, how some things are the same as your experiences. REMEMBER, you may tend to think that everyone grew up like you have, but things change. For example, these people may have grown up with computers, cell phones, Interstate Highways or “hip hop” music. Write a summary of your interviews, paying particular attention to how the real time experiences of your interviewees fit with what your research and textbook says about the time periods and events. Your report should run at least 5 typed, double-spaced pages, probably longer. BE SURE TO INCLUDE BIRTH YEARS FOR EACH INTERVIEWEE. Submit in a Microsoft Word format. Due BEFORE June 20 at 11:59 p.m.. Upload your paper to the assignment as a WORD DOCUMENT on Blackboard. After 11:59 p.m. papers are considered late with a 10 point deduction for every 24 hours that they are late. Late papers will not be accepted after June 23 at 11:59 p.m. Locating Potential Interviewees Network! Begin with people that you know from school, church, work or by asking family members or neighbors who they know. This might include people who provide services to your family such as doctors, lawyers, ministers or community leaders. Retirement communities (not nursing homes) are a great resource since people living there often have the time to give for your interview. Preparing for Interviews 1. Schedule your interviews ahead of time. When you do, get the birthdates and graduation dates ​of your interviewees so that you will know what time period they will be talking about. 2. Research in your book and on line the major events that happened during their 13-29 ​years so that you can ask them about those events. For example, 50’s, (Korea, ​Cold War), 60’s, (President Kennedy’s assassination, Counterculture, Vietnam War, hippies), ​70’s (Watergate, Iran Hostages, Title IX), 80’s (MTV, AIDS, Crack, Desert Storm) etc. ​On line ​you will find several sites that give events by year: 3. Make a list of questions that you want to ask. A few suggested topics are listed below. 4. Try to meet face to face through Facetime or Zoom, but you can do the interview over the telephone. 5. Schedule at least an hour for each interview. Conducting the Interviews 1. Hold your interviews in a quiet, comfortable place without the distractions of people, ​telephones, or TV. 2. LISTEN to the responses and follow up with questions to help you understand what they are ​talking about. This should be more of a conversation than an interrogation. You are ​NOT simply recording their responses like taking a survey. (There is ​a tendency in ​interviews to be thinking about your next question rather than listening to the responses. ​Don’t fall into that trap.) 3. Take extensive notes or record the conversation. If you want to record, ask permission first. 4. Before the interview concludes, ask if there is anything that you have not talked about that ​they think is significant and should be included in the picture of their early lives. 5. Thank them as you leave and ask if you can contact them again, should you have other ​questions or need clarifications. 6. When finished, it is courteous to send each interviewee a thank you note for their time. (Be sure to get ​their mailing or email address if you don’t already know it.) 7. Transcribe your notes/recording as soon as possible after the interviews so that the information ​is still fresh in your mind. Suggestions on the Types of Subjects that You Might Explore • Politics, causes, issues, community activities, race relations, economics, military service. (War vets may be reluctant to discuss war experiences, but might discuss their feelings about the war.) • Major news events that were significant in their lives. Why or How? • Family background/ home life/family routine/parents’ roles, a typical day/free time/duties and ​responsibilities/school. • Entertainment/activities/ dating/ fashion/ morals and manners/ deportment (partying, sex, drugs, alcohol, profanity, nudity) • Relationships (topics not discussed between girls and boys, major issues with parents, attitudes toward parents and adults in general, attitude toward authority) FINAL QUESTION: “Is there anything else that we have not discussed that you think would help me understand what it was like during your formative years?” BE CURIOUS, ASK FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS, ASK ABOUT FEELINGS, OPINIONS AND REACTIONS TO THE EVENTS OF THEIR LIVES. Be sure to include the birth year of each interviewee and ask about national and international events, not just personal antidotes.