ENGL 1010:  Oral History Project
Instructor: S. Brabham     Librarian: S. Williford

Chattanooga State Technical Community College
   http://library.chattanoogastate.edu

Preparation   Oxford Reference Online   Books   Videos   Websites   Articles   Citing Sources

 

Launching a Life with $10 and a Dream 

Larry Young and his friend Clyde Cleveland.

  Tennessean Larry Young (left) told his story to his friend Clyde Cleveland in Detroit. StoryCorps

 
  "I've always felt that, as long as I live, I was going to use my life to reach out and touch another life with hope."  Larry Young

  from the StoryCorps Oral History Project
  "StoryCorps is roaming the country, collecting the stories and legends of everyday America. 
  The first-person accounts that emerge are a record of the way we live today--and how we got there."

 

Interview Preparation

How To Conduct an Oral History Interview

Oral History Techniques  from the Center for the Study of History & Memory at Indiana University

Tips for Questions  and Sample Questions (war) from Wisconsin stories

StoryCorps' Great Questions List or Question Generator

Veterans' Oral History Project (U. Tenn. Knoxville)  Read an interview

 

Oxford Reference Online database
    (Library's alternative to Wikipedia - Get a brief overview of your topic)
        E.g.  World War II from The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military
                World War II from Black Women in America
                Great Depression  |  Tennessee Valley Authority  |  Courtship & Dating

    Check terms within the entry and on the left of the entry for more specific topics.
        E.g.  After reading overviews of "The Great Depression," you might want to focus on food/diet, unemployment, etc.
 

Books

Library Catalog 
      . . . online government documents, videotapes, and books to check out or read online        

  • Select "" tab at top of library's homepage.

    • Find Oral History books in our collection

    • Check out books with photographs to share with your interviewee.  It may stir the memory and uncover great stories.

    Sample subjects Call numbers
           Check same call number area in reference section
    World War II D 700-800's
    Great Depression E 806 and HB 3717 1929
    Civil Rights Movement E 185
    Daily Life E 169
    Use "Older People" for books on our elders  

    Exceptional books on CD (Personal stories of Americans during World War II, 1939-1945):
       The Greatest Generation CD 173 (3 compact discs) 
       The Greatest Generation Speaks CD 145 (3 compact discs)  

    Note:  If item is an "Electronic Resource," it may be found only online, not on our library shelves.

    • Search NetLibrary eBook Collection to find online books not already included in our library catalog.

    • Find videos to learn about your topic.  Take a break from classes and watch a video via closed circuit.  Sample titles:
                
      Great Depression VT 4589-VT 4595 Seven videocassettes from PBS
      The Second American Revolution   VT 3046  "Hosts Bill Moyers, Ruby Dee, and Ossie Davis examine the search of Blacks for racial equality in twentieth-century America. Includes archival film and still photographs of the great personalities and events of the freedom movement."
      The Twenties VT 3047 "Popular legend enshrines the Twenties as the decade that roared prior to Wall Street's crash in 1929. Nineteen Americans, who lived through the Twenties, recall these events and more."

 

More Videos

Discovery Education™ streaming database
     Note:  Requires a different username & password than other databases.

Sample videos (Try Firefox if have problems with Explorer browser):
Power to the People:  FDR Looks to the South (Video segment about bringing electricity to rural farms in Tennessee from the PBS video entitled "Great Projects: The Building of America: Electric Nation")

Profiles of Courage, Controversy, and Sacrifice (WWII)- Homefront USA
    "Examines the many ways that America changed after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941."

 

Websites

Find Authoritative and Reliable Websites

American Memory
The American Memory Historical Collections are the multimedia collections of digitized documents, photographs, recorded sound, moving pictures, and text from the Library of Congress. There are currently over 50 collections in American Memory.
American Women's History: A Research Guide
"American Women's History provides citations to print and Internet reference sources, as well as to selected large primary source collections. The guide also provides information about the tools researchers can use to find additional books, articles, dissertations, and primary sources."
 
Find other reputable websites at Librarian's Index to the Internet and Internet Public Library

 

Articles (from library's databases)

    Off-campus access for currently enrolled students requires a Username and Password.
        Please do not share this password information with anyone not currently enrolled at Chattanooga State.   

MasterFILE Premier      General OneFile

Keywords to try:  "victory gardens" and war  or  world war and rationing

Music
    Play popular music of past decades to bring back memories.  E.g. "Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits"  CD 378

How do I cite my sources?
        Interview  | Electronic Databases  |  Websites

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