Oral History Education

Learning from an earlier generation is a “two-way street.” To learn and build a deeper understanding of the past, and gain insight into the experiences and the actions of generations before us, we need to listen to their stories. When we become active and genuine listeners to those who choose to share their life history with us, we embark on a journey of discovery with them. During an oral history interview, the interviewee is exploring his/her memory of the past with the aid of the interviewer. It can be a valuable exercise for the interviewee as self-discovery leads to historic perspective. The interviewer also goes through a process of self-discovery as he/she explores how problems were solved, attitudes were developed and culture was created during historic periods.

An inspired project through the Department of Aging in Illinois is utilizing oral history to connect to earlier generations and promote learning. According to a recent press release, one such project is presented by the Center for Creative Aging at Harold Washington College, in Chicago. The exhibit is on display through February 5 and features eight Chicagoans with vivid memories of the Great Depression who tell their stories on videotape in a project called “Hard Times, Yesterday and Today: Living Chicagoans’ Experience of the Great Depression and the Current Recession.” Jacquelyn A. Mattfeld, Ph.D., is the director for the Center for Creative Aging. She says it’s important to document our stories and to use them as a learning tool. “Through this oral history project we wanted to tell the stories of how people survived through this country’s worst economic crisis and we wanted to focus on lessons they can teach us today about survival, resilience and hard work,” Mattfield said.

Practitioners in the field of oral history can make a difference through collaborative projects like this one in Chicago — projects that facilitate a “two-way street” between generations. What is the best way to approach such projects? Check out the Oral History Association’s Wiki site to learn about best practices in the field.

Last year I had the honor of producing an oral history project with a Red Cross veteran from World War II, Erna Torney. Today, after hearing of Erna’s passing, I reflect on her story, supporting American soldiers as the Director of the Red Cross Club at her post in Flixton, England, where she witnessed airmen leaving and returning for their bombing missions in Germany.

As historian and documentary producer Charles Hardy has said, “At heart we are all storytellers and the stories we tell have consequences in how we act in the world.” Erna Torney was a storyteller with heart. What I took away mostly from her interview wasn’t a concrete understanding of the perils of war but rather a better understanding of character — the kind of human character that is tested and built during tough times.  My experience with World War II oral histories up to this point had been with veterans who shared their first-hand accounts of fighting in the Pacific and Atlantic theaters. Hearing from Erna gave me and the student intern working with us another valuable perspective of that war, and I will never forget her. To hear an excerpt from her interview and see a slide show of her photographs, go to the Marin History Museum’s website link: http://www.marinhistory.org/oralhistory.html or see it on You Tube, below.
Erna Torney: Story of a Red Cross Girl