The exceptionally fine railroad museum in Swindon uses spoken as well as written words in their active and interactive exhibits. Videotape loops complement the exhibits as well. motion sensors set off the tape loops when visitors enter, almost like being greeted by a worker as you enter his shop, who then talks for 90 seconds or so about his job and life on Gods Wonderful Railway.

It can't cost a huge amount to come up with similar things. Security hardware for motion detectors and solid state digital talking chips?

Dave

Doug,

Give me a few weeks and I will type up all of the key questions I've gathered and post them on this board. Right now I am sandwiching a graduate school load with a full time job--it may take an hour or two to type all of the questions up and post them, time I currently do not have available. My apologies, but stay tuned.

Kurt

Kurt, Our museum group has also proposed
> doing oral histories with some of our old
> timers.
> I suspect that there are a number of us
> involved with different museum groups who
> would be interested in your questionaires.
> If you wouldn't mind, you might post your
> favorite questionaire to the interchange or
> other website for all of us. That might be
> just the impetus to get started before we
> lose more of this information.
> Thanks,
> Doug


http://rrmuseumpa.org
c-kbell@state.pa.us

I read many excellent posts regarding oral history, but there are two things I want to add:

1. Make sure you read up on the copyright laws covering taped interviews. Most oral history archives have release forms that "gift" the informant's rights to the archive, museum, or university recieving the tape.

2. Let your informants do the talking. Don't try to prove your own knowledge, or argue a fact you disagree with. I usually break the ice by asking the informant to tell me how he hired on and if he came from a railroad family. This usually gets the conversation going. After that, unless the conversation goes way off topic, let the informant take the conversation where he will. Usually, an informant will know, consciously or not, what is most important about his story. Sometimes you do have to request more details, because what is everyday mundane detail for a signal maintainer is not everyday for me.

A good way to get started is to sit down and make a list detailing railroad, place, era, and significant trends for the career of a railroader you're going to interview. Then write 25 questions regarding your list and memorize them so you can recite them. A paper list of questions can be a real hinderance; sometimes the informant will give short answers and want to go quickly through the questions without any depth. After a while, it becomes second nature and you don't have to do the elaborate preparation.

I've done 26 interviews with former Milwaukee Road employees in South Dakota and northwest Iowa. It's been a great experience, and quite worthwhile. If you can find a museum or archive willing to archive your tapes, please take advantage of it. That way, your tapes will be preserved and accessible beyond your lifetime. Mine are at the South Dakota Oral History Center at the University of South Dakota.

Finally, don't be cheap with your equipment. Get good stuff and know how to use it. I highly reccomend the Marantz PMD-201. Get a better microphone that what comes with it, though. I use an Electrovoice 635A--tough as nails, inexpensive, and a mainstay of reporters for decades. The only trick is finding a cable to go from the 1/8" jack on the PMD201 to the XLR plug on the microphone. I had mine custom made. You could buy a different microphone with a 1/8" jack or a more expensive Marantz with a built in XLR jack to overcome that problem.

Good luck. Oral history is worth it.

Todd

> T.J. Gaffney's post regarding oral histories
> has me thinking about conducting interviews.
> Other than simply following the flow of
> conversation, what basic questions should an
> interview cover? I'm concerned with someday
> looking back thinking, "If only I had
> asked him/her ______". Any suggestions?
> Are there guidelines that preservationists
> or historians follow? Does anyone have
> personal experience the rest of us could
> learn from? Thanks!


tsschult@usd.edu

This has been a fascinating thread. I can't claim much experience recording oral history, but I have a lot of experience interviewing people for broadcast. A lot of the same techniques apply.

1. Always write a list of questions, If you can memorize them, so much the better. You can refer to the list after the interview is over before the guest has gone to see if you missed anything.
Otherwise, when it's too late you will think, "I forgot to ask about........." It happens every time.

2. Always listen to what your subject is saying. Don't be so busy formulating the next question that you don't understand what is said. Follow the thread of conversation.

3. Begin the interview talking about some innocuous subjects such as, "Did your cab driver wear a turban coming here?" or talk about the weather. This helps relax the person. For some strange reason, a lot of people are frightened by microphones. One hasn't bitten me yet.

4. Do NOT show much knowledge of the subject. Ask the guest to define simple terms he may use. Larry King makes a point of never reading the book in advance of interviewing the author. ( I always thought it was because he was lazy until I discovered the reason.) If you show much knowledge of the subject, the guest is likely to talk directly to you as a fellow expert with short answers, lots a jargon and totally lose the lay listener.

5. If you can afford it, get a lavalier microphone for the guest and a simple mixer to add the sound of your voice. (Lavalier microphones are those funny little things you see on television clipped to the reporter's collar). You would be surprised how attrocious the accoustics are in a typical room. Trying to understand what was said from the hollow, boomy room sound can be a real drag. That's why you see lots of people on TV news wearing lavalier microphones. Also people tend to forget about the microphone more quickly if they can't see it.

Been there. Done that.

fk

fkrock@pacbell.net

Reading everyone's excellent thoughts and responses on this topic reminds me of one of the most important questions you can ask. It's one that I learned as a newspaper reporter and one that I'll bet Jim Wrinn asks all the time in his job with the Charlotte Observer.

After you and the interviewee have covered all the points on your (written or mental) list, try asking this:

"Is there anything we haven't covered?"

also known as

"Anything else you'd like to say?"

More than once, as a reporter I found that the most interesting nuggets came out of some topic I'd either overlooked or was completely ignorant of.

Dan Cupper
Harrisburg, Pa.


cupper@att.net

Kurt has agreed to send me a hard copy of the questions so I can type them up. Hopefully everyone will see them here within a week or so... stay tuned!

71446975@quixnet.net

Thanks for all the input! I’m heartened others are concerned with the daily loss of knowledge possessed by steam-era railroaders. That said, I’m a bit overwhelmed by all the details and time involved in doing this “right”. From performing pre-interview research to properly documenting the results (and all that is in between) – it adds up to a much larger commitment than I had previously thought. I’m thinking, “Is it all worth it?”

“Absolutely."

The advice here has me better prepared for the next time I say to someone, “Have you written all this stuff down?” Invariably the answer is “No” but (hopefully) I’ll be ready to rectify the situation. Granted it probably won’t be with the best of equipment and I probably won’t cover all the questions I’ll think of later but I figure it’s better to get it now before it’s gone forever.

Thanks again.

71446975@quixnet.net

> 4. Two tapes I can recommend that helped me
> learn this art are "The
> Stonecutters" a documentary about the
> artisans at the National Cathedral in
> Washington, DC

The title is "The Stone Carvers" and it won an Oscar in 1985. Unfortunately I am thus far unable to find it on video or DVD - any suggestions?

71446975@quixnet.net

> The title is "The Stone Carvers"
> and it won an Oscar in 1985. Unfortunately I
> am thus far unable to find it on video or
> DVD - any suggestions?

You can get it from the online store at Washington National Cathedral,

http://www.cathedral.org/cathedral/index.shtml

Look under Shops then Categories/Videos

I see it listed in a number of library catalogs. Your county library might be able to get it for you via interlibrary loan if you're patient...

Washington National Cathedral
eledbetter@rypn.org

Erik has posted a correction.

The video title I refer to in my post on oral history is "The Stone Carvers" (not Stonecutters), and it won an Oscar in 1985.

You can get it from the online store at Washington National Cathedral,

http://www.cathedral.org/cathedral/index.shtml

Look under Shops then Categories/Videos

This is a classic oral history documentary.

Wesley

One book that was recommended to me when I started: "Amoskeag:Life and Work in an American Factory-City" by Tamara K. Hareven and Randolph Langenbach. This book changed the face of how we do Oral History, and really put it on the map. I would highly recommend it myself to anyone thinking of doing a long-term project of Oral History, especially in a given area (car shops employees, etc.) Here's a link to it:

http://www.upne.com/0-87451-736-2.html


Port Huron Museum
tjgaffney@phmuseum.org