Using Oral History Teacher Material

I. Introduction to Social History

1. Ask students to write down topics they think of when they hear the word "history."

2. Poll the class to see how many students wrote down topics such as presidents, wars, explorers, government activities, famous people, or famous inventions. Find out how many students suggested topics such as family life, recreation, work, clothing, and school.

3. Point out that different kinds of historians look at different topics within history. While many history textbooks deal with political and military history, historians also study the lives and activities of everyday people. Everyday lives and activities are the subject matter of social history, which students will explore in this lesson.

4. Have students organize into their small groups. Provide the address for Introduction to Social History (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/lessons/oralhist/ohstart.html). Suggest that students add this address to their list of bookmarks.

5. Have student groups read Introduction to Social History and proceed to Oral History and the Federal Writers' Project.

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II. Oral History and the Federal Writers' Project

In preparation for Oral History and the Federal Writers' Project, review (or have your students review) the special presentation Voices from the Thirties: Life Histories from the Federal Writers' Project.

Voices from the Thirties: Life Histories from the Federal Writers' Project contains audio recordings of actors reading from oral history interviews.

See How to View for information about using these recordings.

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III. Analyzing Oral Histories

1. Have student groups read the directions for Analyzing Oral Histories. If computer time is limited, you may wish to print out, duplicate, and distribute copies of the Primary Source Sets for each group:
   

   A: Working Women in the 1930s
   B: Dancing as a Form of Recreation, 1890s-1930s
   C: Americans and the Automobile

2. Assign each group three documents from the Primary Source Sets to read and analyze. Allow about 30 minutes for reading and analysis. Groups that finish early can read additional excerpts.

3. As they finish their analysis, remind groups to generate three research questions related to the Primary Source Set they have reviewed.

   Each group will choose a social history topic as the focus for their upcoming oral history interviews. Groups may choose to pursue additional questions about dancing, cars, or women's work from this section of the lesson, or they can choose another topic to research. Alternatively, the class may choose to research one topic, with small groups each choosing a different aspect of the topic.

4. If necessary, assign as homework the generation of research topic ideas by each student.

5. Conclude this section by compiling a class list of the research questions student groups have identified for further study.

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IV. Background Research for Oral History Interviews

1. To begin this section, post the class list of research questions on the chalkboard. Let student groups meet for about 10 minutes to review the social history topic they wish to pursue. You may wish to approve the research topics before groups proceed with their background research.

2. Remind students that, after their background research, they will conduct oral history interviews of their own to gather information on their research topic.

3. Have students log on to the section Background Research for Oral History Interviews, read the instructions, and begin their on-line searches.

4. While the American Life Histories, 1936-1940 collection is rich in information on a wide range of social history topics, the on-line search process can frustrate students. Searches often turn up as many irrelevant as relevant documents. Help students use detailed search words to narrow their results.

5. Students are asked to find just two or three documents relevant to their research topic. They should be able to accomplish this task in one class period. When they have finished their searching, direct them to proceed to Guidelines for Oral History Interviews.

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V. Guidelines for Oral History Interviews

1. Begin this section by explaining the method you have selected for identifying interview subjects for Oral History Interviews (Materials and Preparation section). Establish the due date for completion of interviews and for class presentations on research results. Tell students that they will be expected to report on both their interview results and how those results influence their answers to the research questions they posed.

2. Have students print out the documents included in the Guidelines for Oral History Interviews. (Or, print out, duplicate, and distribute this consolidated guidelines information page to the class.)

3. Before interviews begin, you may wish to review and approve the list of ten interview questions each group will generate in Section 5: Preparing for the Interview. Role play an interview for the class using questions from one of the groups.

4. You will want to review Interview Manners with students before they meet with interview subjects. If tape recorders are being used, review "How to Do It" in Folklife and Fieldwork: A Layman's Introduction to Field Techniques.

5. More advanced students may be interested in the story of Charles Todd, a graduate student who decided to do field research for the Library of Congress to earn money for his summer vacation in California. The results of his work have become Voices from the Dust Bowl: The Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection, 1940-1941.

6. On the due date for group presentations, allow time for each group to describe their interview and research results. Then conduct a general class discussion to summarize the experience of the interviews and what students learned about their social history research topics. The following questions may be useful:

   • What was the most surprising piece of information your interviews generated? Why was it surprising?

   • What types of interview questions led to relevant, interesting answers? What types of interview questions were less effective?

   • Was it hard to keep interview subjects on the topic? What strategies worked to pull the person back to the focus of the interview?

   • What good follow-up questions did you ask?

   • What might have made the interview more productive?

   • Did you question the accuracy of the information the interview subject provided? Why?

   • What other sources might you check to see if the interview subject provided accurate information?

   • Based on your interviews and those you read in the American Life Histories collection, what changes have occurred in the lives of everyday Americans over the last 100 years? How significant do you think these changes are?

   • Do your oral history interviews or Federal Writers' Project interviews show areas of everyday life that have changed little over the last 100 years? Why do you think this is true?

   • Through the interviews, what information did you gather about causes of change in everyday life? For example, were changes in work related to changes in technology? to society's ideas about the role of women?