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OHAA National Conference – Exploring sensory rich memories

‘The land smelt different to home’ – exploring sensory rich memories in oral histories of migrants from England’s North East.

3.30 pm 22 September 2013.

Annmarie Reid
PhD Student, University of South Australia

Resize of Annmarie Reid3“An orange is sunshine on a branch”. Sensory experiences need made sense of, sensory experience and memory.  Annmarie looked at the way objects can trigger memories through touch, smell, sight.  She began with her grandmother’s chest at the end of the bed which contained many objects.  She enjoyed engaging with the objects belonging to her grandmother and therefore linked to her life in the north of England.  Rugmaking tools brought back memories.  Have other migrants experienced a similar sensory overload when with objects from the past. 

Annmarie arrived on rugmaking day for her interview with Miriam.  There were other women there.  Interview began at a desk after the other women have left.  Miriam lives at Milton, NSW.  It is important to interview in the interviewee’s own place.  The interviewee is then surrounded by a number of sensory rich memories.  Interviewee Rob lives at Clayton Bay, South Australia.  He remembers the joy of eating Nice biscuits with apple slices on top.  He shows Annmarie his mother’s coffee set.  We remember our experience of eating food as children.  Rob placed a lot of importance on boating and fishing on a beautiful day.  These experiences take him back to being on a boat in England as a child.  All this is part of his sensory memory.  Music was important in Rob’s family life.  He sings with a Durham accent but does not speak with one. 

It is important to relive sensory experiences with interview participants, so we need to study more sensory uses with oral history.  We can learn from anthropology etc. and use the senses as a route to knowledge.  Annmarie’s project includes sound files, recipes, photos etc.  Interviews became more conversational rather than a structured oral history.  Annmarie has learned to make the rugs as her grandmother did and showed the audience examples of her work.
Suzanne Mulligan

OHAA National Conference – Australian War Memorial interviews

Recording from the frontline:  the Australian War Memorial’s experience of interviewing current serving Defence force members

1.30 pm 21 September 2013.

Stephanie Boyle
Australian War Memorial

Stephanie did 500 hours of interviews in the field in Afghanistan and Iraq.  She spent four weeks in Afghanistan.  She was very well prepared but was challenging.  She did 50 interviews and had a template for the interviews which included aspects of life on the base, impact on family life, how do they feel about being there. 

Parts of interviews on Australian War Memorial YouTube channel – Collecting in Action http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJi-GHfQCx0.  Some interviewees did not understand the purpose of oral history.  She had to put them at their ease.  One soldier, Ziggy Mortars (pseudonym) has song on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q30TXlqiBTY  It was hard for them to wind down when retuning to Australia.  They did not sleep well for a long time and did not know how to answer the question “what was it like?”  It was all about survival.  It was a good learning opportunity for the interviewer and may be used to test the ANZAC mythology.  Perhaps interview them again in 10 years time.  All interviews have to be secured by Defence for about 20 years. 
Suzanne Mulligan

 

OHAA National Conference – Women in Munitions Factories

And she said, “I’m going to work in the munitions factory: and then Mum asked, “But, who’ll get Ted’s lunch?”

11.00 am 21 September 2013

Dr Julie Holbrook Tolley

Resize of Julie Holbrook Tolley1Women’s personal memories of War can contribute significantly to the knowledge of individuals and their experiences.  Dr Tolley interviewed munitions factory employees from World War II.  She learned about the tasks they carried out, the clothing they wore and what they did when the War ended.  They were given very little recognition at the time.  The interview process gave them an opportunity to re-evaluate their work.  Their participation in the project acknowledged the value of the work they did.  In December 1943 there were three large government munitions factories in Adelaide and some also in country towns. 

Dr Tolley interviewed Eunice, Dot and Nancy.  Eunice worked from 1940-1945.  She said it was a dangerous job but she was proud to be helping the War effort.  Dot saw “The Australian Women’s Weekly” advertising for workers and she joined.  It was her “duty”.  The propellant used was cordite and could be dangerous.  Nancy made casings for bullets.  She wanted to help the War effort.  They felt proud of themselves.  It was a positive experience in their lives as they remembered.  The women changed in to their street clothes at the end of the shift.  They could not wear any metal at all.  Their work was very secret.  Less than 1% of the material from that era survives, so this lack makes these oral histories even more valuable.  29,000 women were employed in War industries during the War.  Some then worked in other factories.  This project has contributed to the understanding of these women’s lives.
Suzanne Mulligan

 

Computer History Museum

The Computer History Museum in California, the world's leading institution exploring the history of computing and its ongoing impact on society, announced today the online posting of the Russian Semiconductor Pioneers oral history series. This series comprises transcripts and videos from the oral histories of seven Russian pioneers in microelectronics and computing technology, including Nobel Prize laureate Dr. Zhores Alferov and Lenin Prize winner Dr. Igor Grekhov. The Museum is pleased to provide public access to the transcripts from these historic interviews on its permanent Collections website. For the full story click here.

OHAA National Conference – Australian Generations Project

Resize of Al Thomson & Susan MarsdenAustralian Generations: an oral history of our living memory.

6.00 pm 20 September 2013, Allan Scott Auditorium, University of South Australia, City West Campus, 55 North Terrace, Adelaide.

Professor Alistair Thomson
Project Leader of the Australian Generations Oral History Project and
Professor of History and Head of School of Philosophical, Historical and
International Studies, Monash University, Victoria.

Alistair was introduced by Dr Susan Marsden, History Council of South Australia, and spoke about the Australian Generations Project (http://artsonline.monash.edu.au/australian-generations/) and its main parts:

  1. How the project was created and the challenges along the way; and
  2. How they will use the material.

Kevin Bradley from the National Library wanted to create a big social oral history project similar to one done in 1938 which covered the period from 1880s to 1920s.  Funds were received from the Australian Research Council (ARC) and the project heads resolved to interview 50 people in each decade up to 1980s.  ABC Radio National was due to air the first interview on 27 October 2013 on the “Hindsight” program [will now be aired 3 November].  It will be similar to “The Century Speaks”, a British project involving 6,000 interviews (http://sounds.bl.uk/accents-and-dialects/millenium-memory-bank). 

Expressions of interest were sought for the project.  The interviewees were chosen after their expressions of interest were read.  Those choosing were able to get a sense of who would be interesting.  People who seemed to be advocating a particular cause were not chosen, neither were those with mental health problems.  Choices were sometimes based on hunches, wariness, demographics, and diversity.  Photographs were taken at the time of the interview – a head shot and in situ with objects etc. 

Audio – life story interviews can be up to many hours, averaging five hours, done in two hour sessions.  Both the interviewer and interviewee valued the time in between to reflect, and this benefited the next stage of the interview.  Various themes were covered including faith and belief.  The interviews looked at the changes in family roles.  There are multiple factors in lives including cultural and social changes.  Interviewees would focus on an area of particular interest and for the most part, they want to tell their story.  At the end of the interview we would ask “How did you feel about being interviewed?”  It can be a cathartic experience and can trigger forgotten memories, sometimes taking you into unexplored territory.

There was a training day for all the interviewers.  There are no transcripts, which forces people to listen to the interview.  Material is easily researchable and accessible; however some will be embargoed for 50 years.

Outcomes for the project include an anthology, e-book and link to audio on-line.  The project is about the past and the significance of that past, exploring undocumented lives.
Suzanne Mulligan

 

 

OHAA National Conference – Migration Museum Tour

Whose history? a program at the Migration Museum, Friday 20 September at 2.30 pm, 82 Kintore Avenue, Adelaide

Resize of Migration Museum tour1This was a tour of the Migration Museum.  The title “Whose history?” was meant to show us different perspectives of the museum.  We were initially taken through the museum by one guide and we were instructed to listen, not ask questions, interject or make comments during the tour.  About five minutes in to the tour, most of our group had realised the purpose of this tour.  We were asked to see the museum and its exhibits through the eyes of people who would have seen the museum in about the 1950s or earlier.  For example, the aboriginal people were depicted as savages who were saved from their simple lifestyle by the white people who colonised the area.  They were given rations of white flour, sugar, tea and tobacco so they would no longer have to scratch around in the dirt to find food nor hunt for it.  They became “civilised” and were not driven from their homes as they were in the eastern states.  The colonisers built fences to keep their crops and livestock contained, not to keep the natives out.

This was interesting and confronting for us as people in 2013 to listen to this “perspective” but we understood the point the guide was making.  We then returned to the entrance of the Museum to be taken on the same tour with a different guide, but this time from a 2013 perspective.  She explained the purpose of the previous tour and then showed us the same exhibits giving a more “truthful” interpretation.  For example, the rations given to the aborigines were not healthy alternatives to the food they had taken from their environment.  The change in diet produced serious health issues.

Some of us who participated in the tour discussed how we felt about it later.  The first tour was confronting and purposefully so and the second gave us a different insight into the change in attitude towards our history, particularly regarding aboriginal people.  We thought this tour method might be controversial and perhaps not always acceptable to some people.  It was certainly designed to promote a lot of discussion.
Suzanne Mulligan
 

Copyright issue with Bill Bryson interview

British travel writer and guidebook author Mike Gerrard, who interviewed Bryson in 1994, recently decided to republish the interview as an 8000-word, 27-page e-book.  According to travel industry blog, World Travel Market, Bryson’s lawyers took exception to Gerrard’s enterprise, claiming it breached the award-winning author's copyright.  They demanded the book be removed from the Amazon store, a request Amazon agreed to, much to Gerrard’s annoyance. 

Note – this may have wider implications and oral historians must ensure they have their release forms signed.  See full story here.

Students contribute to JFK Project (USA)

“History is the ultimate reality show,” Dr. Clive Siegle said and students in history classes this semester have an opportunity in helping create it. During the semester, students chose to either interview someone who lived during the John F. Kennedy era or a war veteran (of any conflict, period or nationality). These interviews are being collected into a larger oral history and since all history classes at Richland are participating, this makes it the the largest oral history project in the nation said Siegle. For full story click here.

Solitary Islands (NSW)

The Solitary Islands Oral History Project collects perspectives and memories of people intimate with this coastal and marine environment, users of all kinds from fishers to Aboriginal knowledge holders, tourism operators, surfers and divers.  Nicola Johnstone, Manager, Solitary Islands Marine Park has developed this project interviewing over thirty people with a connection to the Solitaries region.  For full story with ABC audio click here.

OHA (USA) Conference

Clifford Kuhn, executive director of the Oral History Association (OHA), believes it’s the duty of Oklahomans to preserve every bit of this state’s history, all from a first-person narrative.  “The Oral History Association is a national organization of people who engage in oral history interviews, recording people about their firsthand experiences of the past,” Kuhn said. “We try to improve the standards and upgrade the practices of recording oral history, elevating what people are supposed to do when they do interviews, from the equipment you need, the questions you ask, how you present the material and what you do with it. In other words, it’s not as simple as ‘Tell us about the good old days, Grandpa.’” The OHA holds an annual meeting and offers workshops designed to help and guide oral history enthusiasts, from the novice to the seasoned. The event includes presentations on the importance of oral history in the digital age, folk music as oral history and a special public event by Edward T. Linenthal, author of The Unfinished Bombing: Oklahoma City in American Memory, at the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. For full story click here.