Last updated: October 25, 2023
Article
Case Study: Oral History at an Alumni Reunion
Scurlock Studios, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Introduction
In the spring of 2022 staff at Prince William Forest Park in Virginia were making plans to host a reunion of alumni who attended camps that the park had supported for urban youth from the 1940s through the 1990s. Many of the alumni were African Americans whose trips from Washington, D.C., to the park were sponsored by Family & Child Services Association. Park staff recognized a rare opportunity to learn more about the camps through oral history interviews.
When park colleagues contacted me, they had already apprised reunion partners of their plans: Three to five interviewers drawn from NPS staff, interns, and/or students would be collecting the stories of past campers. Interviews might be conducted with individuals or with groups, and there would be a dedicated interviewing area away from the weekend’s main activities. Park organizers asked reunion partners if they might identify up to 20 people who would like to be interviewed. Narrators would receive questions ahead of time so they would not be caught off guard. The park’s organizer also encouraged participants to bring photos and other memorabilia from their camping days to share. The interview effort during the reunion would allow the park to add to its existing oral history collection.
What did I think of the plan, my park staff asked?
Response and Considerations
My first response to virtually any request for help is to ask more questions in order to assess resources available and the depth of planning for the entire oral history process. Among the questions I asked:
Had the park consulted with reunion partners to determine that an oral history project was a priority for them and something they wanted to accomplish during the reunion weekend?
- A reunion can be a good opportunity to reach a lot of people easily, but reunions can also be hectic events. Visiting with old friends is a priority of participants. Activities like meals and entertainment keep attendees busy. Would alumni make time for interviews?
What kind of training had the prospective interviewers had in conducting oral history projects and interviews?
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Although interviewing can appear to be as simple as a conversation, for oral history interviews there are ethical considerations regarding informed consent (Why are the interviews being conducted? What will happen to them? Who can read them? Where will they be archived?) and an assumption that interviewers have conducted background research so they can ask good questions.
What was the primary purpose of the oral history interviews? What did they hope to discover that they could not find out via other sources of information about the camps?
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Composing a short mission statement that describes the goals and scope of an oral history project is a good way to clarify the project’s purpose.
What kind of equipment did they plan to use and did the interviewers know how to use it well?
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The decision about whether to use digital audio or video equipment to record interviews has major consequences. Digital audio equipment is cheaper than video and easier to use; digital audio files require less storage space to archive. Depending on how the interviews will be used, however, video may be preferable.
Did they have an archival plan? Where would the interview files be stored, and who would take care of them now and in the future?
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Much of the oral history process occurs once the interviews are completed. Including an archivist or curator in the planning process from the start helps ensure that the park can preserve and protect the oral history interview resources for current and future generations.
Did they plan to transcribe the interviews? If so, what kind of funding did they have to support transcription?
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A full transcript of an interview might be ideal, but there are alternatives that require less time and money and still provide crucial information about the content of an interview. One alternative is a summary of the interview, including key topics and people discussed. Adding time stamps makes a summary even more useful.
How did the park plan to use the interviews?
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Oral history interviews can be used in a host of ways. Audio or video might be incorporated into museum exhibits; audio could be the basis of a podcast. Interview content could inform park interpretive programs, publications, and signage.
Conducting group interviews can be tricky. Had they thought through what the advantages and challenges of group interviews could be?
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When narrators are gathered in a small group, the conversation among them can trigger memories and stories that might have remained dormant during a one-on-one interview. But depending on group dynamics, some might be more talkative than others and drown out the voices of quieter participants or of narrators who have different memories and interpretations of events that happened in the past. It can also be difficult to record group interviews so that sound quality is good and uniform.
Did the park have enough personnel to handle the workflow that a recording event would create?
There’s a lot to keep up with during oral history interviewing, especially at a lively occasion like a reunion.
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It might be helpful for someone to greet narrators when they arrive for interviews, offer them a copy of the legal release form that they will sign when the interview is done, and then take them to the interviewing site.
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The interviewer can explain the purpose of the interviews again, conduct the interview, accept a signed release form and secure it, and record the file numbers of the audio or video recording.
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At some point the interviewer or another designated staffer will download the audio files from the recorders to a computer, label them with the proper names of the interviewees, and make sure that all materials for each interview are properly filed in hard copy and digitally.
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Keeping track of all the moving parks is essential.
Follow up
How did reunion interviewing go?
"It didn’t really,” my Prince William Forest Park colleague told me after the event. Alumni were indeed more interested in visiting with old friends than participating in interviews. Although park staff informed alumni about the opportunity to be interviewed when they registered and throughout the day, only one person accepted the offer.
Yet, the day was far from a total loss. The reunion resulted in valuable exchanges of information between the park and potential narrators. Some 15 people shared their contact information and indicated their desire to be interviewed—just not in a reunion setting. Park staff have even completed one interview via Teams since the reunion. After learning first-hand how complicated planning oral history projects can be, staff are in a better position to seek funding to support the interviews and interpretive products they envision.