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A GUIDE FOR ORAL HISTORIANS THE LOMPOC ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

What is oral history? Oral history is a method of collecting the voices and memories of living people. It is both a process and a product: the process of interviewing an individual about his or her past experience, and the historical document that this interview produces, whether the recorded audio or the transcript. Many people wonder whether oral histories are credible historical sources. This, however, is not the primary concern of oral history. Oral history emphasizes the subjective; peoples perspectives on and interpretations of past events are as important as the hard facts. This is why the life history approach, detailed in this guide, is so central to the oral historical method. Most interviews begin with the question Where and when were you born? and continue with questions about the births and lives of the interviewees parents, what their childhood was like, and where the interviewee grew up. Even if were interviewing someone because of their involvement in a particular event, we need to first understand how their perspective was formed. This life history approach is one of a couple things that makes oral history interviews distinctly different from other types of interviews journalistic or anthropological interviews, for example. Another is the power and control the interviewee is given over the final product. Before an interview ever begins, the purposes of the interview and project are made clear to the interviewee in writing. And while the narrator gives an institution or repository her interview and the right to make it available to others, she retains complete control of its access she can at any time decide she wants to limit its access, or withhold its availability until after her death, or to remove her name from the interview and remain anonymous. Above all else, oral history emphasizes respect for those being interviewed. Often, oral history captures perspectives not typically documented. It acknowledges that history is more than textbooks and the lives of world leaders: it is composed of all of our individual stories. Ultimately, oral history treats every human voice as a primary source of valuable historical insight. This is what we hope to do with the Lompoc Oral History Project. The experience of living in Lompoc is as varied as the people that live here, and we want to capture pieces of it all. We believe everyone has a story worth contributing: Whether you have lived in Lompoc for five generations or two years, you have changed Lompoc and Lompoc has changed you. This project puts the collecting power in your hands: Maybe you know someone whose story should be documented and saved, or maybe you think you have a story worth recording. This guide walks you through the basics of approaching a person for an interview, the interview itself, and what to do afterwards. This guide, though, is actually a very abridged version of many longer, more in-depth oral history guides. Ive included a list of oral history resources at the end of this guide for those interested in additional reading.

2 Once you have all the items on the checklist below, you can turn them into the Lompoc Museum or Lompoc Valley Historical Society, where they will be housed along with the rest of the organizations archives. A completed oral history donation includes: 1. the sound recording of the interview, in MP3 format 2. a release form, signed both by you and your interviewee 3. the interview transcript 4. an index of the interview (like a table of contents) And while it is not necessary, we welcome and encourage you to contact us before starting with any questions, concerns or just to talk about your project. Please contact Patricia Sazani at patriciasazani@gmail.com or call her at 805-588-8760 to discuss any aspect of the project. More than anything, collecting oral histories is a really rewarding experience, both for the interviewer and the narrator. It is the creation of a historical record from what is often a deep and intimate conversation. We wish you good luck, and hope you enjoy the experience! **We realize that not everyone has the equipment or technological knowledge to do the project exactly as weve asked. Please dont let this discourage you! Contact us we may be able to arrange another way for you to collect your oral histories. Before the Interview Once you know who you want to interview, the first step is asking the person for an interview. Depending on how well you know the person, this may be more difficult than you think. Some people are hesitant to give interviews, whether because they are shy and feel as if they have to perform or dont think they have anything interesting to say. That is why it is crucial that you be absolutely clear about the intentions and purposes of your project. Traditionally, this is done by mail even if you have spoken with the person face-to-face about the interview, even if you know the person very well, it is best if you write it out, explaining what the project is, why you want to do it, what the interview process will look like, and what will happen to the interview after its processed. Ive included a sample letter at the end of this document as an example. The next step is research. A large part of your job as oral historian is making the interviewee feel comfortable, and a good part of this comes with being prepared. Professional oral historians often budget eight hours of research for every hour of recorded interview. You might not have to do so much, but its good to take this into account. And how, exactly, do you know what to research? There are two methods of preinterview research, and ideally, you will use both. The first is the pre-interview questionnaire a series of questions sent in writing before the interview that give you a good sense of the timeline of the narrators life. I have included this with the first letter that describes the project, and asked the narrator to fill it out and send it back if they are interested in the interview. This is also included in the sample letter at the end of the document. The second method is a pre-interview meeting. It is helpful to meet with the narrator for a limited amount of time maybe 20 or 30 minutes and discuss the topics to be covered in the

3 interview. It also gives the narrator the chance to clear up any questions about the interview process he might have. Once you have a better sense of these topics and the interviewees life, you can begin researching and writing out questions. Look into what was happening during pivotal moments in the narrators life locally, nationally, and globally. Look into the history of organizations or institutions with whom your interviewee was associated. And while you are researching, think of what kind of knowledge can be gained from your narrator beyond what you are able to learn through your research personal stories, descriptions of places, feelings, and daily life, rich details. This will help you form your questions. You must also prepare a release form before getting to your interview. This is a contract that gifts the interview to the institution or repository in this case, the Lompoc Valley Historical Society or Lompoc Museum while making it clear that the narrator retains all intellectual, artistic, and performative rights to the content of the interview. Release forms often differ in the details beyond these two points on issues of interview use, distribution, or access, or example. We have included a sample release form at the end of this document, but you are encouraged to write your own, using your own words. It is crucial, though, if you want to donate your oral histories to the Lompoc Museum and Lompoc Valley Historical Society, that you include at least a description of the possible ways the interview material could be used, with an option for the interviewee to edit the arrangement, or we will be unable to accept the oral history. Once you have done all these things and feel prepared, all that is left to do is set a time and place for the interview! The Interview The interview is the core of oral history. It is a conversation, but it is not casual; some guides describe it as a constructed conversation, meaning that there has been preparation on both sides, that there are prescribed roles, and that this conversation is in some way different from ordinary exchange. The interview is always collaborative: the interviewee is always an equal partner in the interviews creation. The interview process described here is in the slightly strict tradition of oral history. We are open to ways you might want to experiment with, stretch, alter, or play with your interview. Suggestions have included walking interviews, for example. If you are interested in this, we ask that you speak to us first thoughthere are certain parts of the oral history process that we are not flexible about, such as the release form. The interview should take place in a quiet, private spot where you will not be interrupted, and preferably indoors for recording purposes. Interviews usually occur in the narrators home, but sometimes they happen in an office or a building relevant to the interview some of the 1979 Lompoc oral histories were conducted in The Lompoc Museum, for example. Rooms with carpets and furniture are better for sound quality than those with harder objects that can cause voices to reverberate. For example, you should avoid putting your narrator next to a wall if possible. You should also ask if you can unplug noisy appliances. A good thing to keep in mind when choosing a place for the interview is that the ideal recording location is a small, carpeted closet with the door closed and filled with clothes-- that is, a small space filled with soft, absorbent things. You should also be very familiar with your recording equipment before you arrive at the interview. This is key there is nothing worse than finishing an interview and realizing none of

4 it was captured because of a technical error. If your equipment requires them, bring extra tapes and batteries. As mentioned before, the life history approach is central to oral history. Almost all interviews start with the question When and where were you born? and continue chronologically from there. Regardless of where exactly you begin, this first question is crucial in setting the tone of the interview. It should be neutral and easy to answer, putting the narrator at ease. It is also a good idea to start with very broad questions, rather than jumping directly into the main question or events is not recommended. According to oral historian Donald Ritchie, starting with very specific questions gives the interviewer too much control over the interview. Interviewers should let interviewees explain what they think is most significant before beginning to narrow the questions. Questions about background usually work well. What you are after are memories filled with rich, concrete details. Questions that can be answered with a yes or no are less effective than those that ask for description instead of Did you grow up in Lompoc? try, Tell me about your childhood in Lompoc. Asking for concrete illustrations and examples, when appropriate, is another good way to get at these details. We recommend that you take notes during the interview, but do not interrupt. If you think of a question to ask while the narrators speaking, jot it down and ask later. If the narrators going wildly off topic, wait for a pause before guiding him back to the original question. It is also helpful to write down proper names during the interview so that you can ask the narrator about spelling afterwards. The average interview should not last more than two hours; you will see that after this, both you and the narrator will be tired. Often, though, there is more to say, but these points can be returned to during a second interview, which we will go into later. All interviews should end with the question, Is there anything else youd like to tell me? If the interviewee says no, thank them, and turn off the recorder. Some good interview moves: (An excellent guide to the interview process is the chapter on interviewing from Donald Ritchies book A Practical Guide to Oral History, quoted above. Below are some of my favorite tips from the chapter.) -A good way to begin an interview is with a lead in a short statement during which you state your and the narrators names, the date and place of the interview, and, if applicable, the purpose of the interview. Recording this marks the interview as different from a typical conversation. -If your narrator starts talking about something you have never heard of, dont be flustered or afraid to ask about it for fear of appearing unprepared. Instead, think of it as an opportunity to collect more details. Simply say, I didnt know that. Can you tell me more about it? -Do not ask more than one question at a time. -Your most-used question should be And what happened next? Interviewing is a lot about story-building guiding the narrator through different scenes of his life, as if you were assisting in an act of fiction. And what happened next? keeps the scenes strung together, and suggests to the narrator that a story might not end where they thought it ended. (There is a good deal of scholarly writing that explores the link between literature and oral historysee Alessandro Portellis work in the list of resources, for example.) -As the interviewer, you do not have to rely only on questions. Statements, when posed artfully,

5 are useful they give the narrator the opportunity to disagree with or clarify ideas, and can break up what can become a monotonous back-and-forth question-and-answer conversation. -It is important to pause after the narrator finishes each response, and to avoid rushing into the next question. One of my favorite exercises really explores this silence ten seconds can seem like an painfully long time, but try to wait ten seconds after a narrator finishes her response before you ask your next question. This pause encourages the narrator to speak more and add details. -Sometimes, an interviewee might ask you to turn off the recorder, so that he can respond to the next question off the record. It is important that you tell the interviewee politely, but firmly, that you cannot turn the recorder off, but that, once the interview is over, if the interviewee still feels he does not want the response included in the history, he can ask you to omit it. You are, then, obligated to delete the response from the interview. You must also respect an interviewees right to refuse to answer a question. The best advice we can give you, though, is to listen to some oral history interviews! Were working on putting the full-length Lompoc oral history interviews up online, but in the meantime you can find other oral histories online, and probably about any subject that interests you. Scroll to the bottom to see links for suggestions of excellent interviews. Finally, before you leave the interview, have the interviewee sign the release form. This can actually be done at any number of points in the oral history processsome people send a copy of it with the initial letter so the interviewee can review its terms and alter them if she wishes. You can ask the narrator to sign immediately before the interview, immediately after, or, as is very common, after you have finished the transcript and given a copy to the narrator for review. This is the most courteous option, in that it allows the narrator to see exactly what she is signing over to the archive. After the Interview You should do two things within a couple days of the interview: First, send a thank you note to the interviewee for giving you the interview. Second, listen to the interview. As mentioned before, it is common to hold a second interview with the same narrator. It is best to put at least a month of space between the first and second interview, as this gives the narrator the opportunity to think over what was said and remember points she glossed over. But it is crucial you return to the first interviews audio while it is still fresh in your mind, so that you can make notes about additional questions, about moments in stories when you should have asked the narrator to elaborate. Whether you do so immediately, or after a second or third or fourth interview, eventually you will have to transcribe the interview if you want to submit it the Lompoc Museum and Lompoc Valley Historical Society. Transcriptions increase the accessibility of oral history interviews and make research much easier. While transcriptions are often described as a wordfor-word transcription of a recorded interview, it is helpful to think of them as a translation. Many oral history textbooks say transcriptions should capture what the interviewee means, or the true meaning of a phrase. The final transcription, then, is dictated by the judgment of the transcriber. The task of the transcriber is, in many ways, as straightforward as it seems: listen to the words spoken, and write them down. The portion of the task left to the transcribers judgment is

6 small, but essential. It mostly concerns readability: We do not want transcribers to omit important words or phrases, add words the interviewee did not say, or correct the interviewees speech or grammarspeech pattern should be preserved. But transcribing every pause, um, like, and stutter makes for clumsy reading. Remember that the transcription is not the interview itself, but an aid. It is up to the transcriber to decide which words to include, shooting for a balance between readability and truly conveying the speech of the interviewee. This wiggle room extends to signs that exist in writing but not in speech punctuation and paragraph breaks, for example. Transcripts are essentially formatted like the dialogue of plays. Capitalize the speakers initials at the start of each portion of speech; then a colon; then a half-inch indent; and finally, the transcribed speech. Add line breaks between different speakers speech. For example: AL: Can you describe what a typical day was like then?

GS: Well wed wake up about 5 a.m. and do the dishes from the night before and make the coffee for the day. Everyone else would sleep until about 8 so we had some time to watch the news ((1:10:00)) and get breakfast ready. AL: What would you make for breakfast?

GS: Well (laughing), no one really liked it because we had it so often, but we had so much goat meat that we ate it with every meal. And wed try to make it in as many different ways each time but there are only so many ways you can cook a goat You will see that transcripts employ many of the same conventions as plays: sounds are indicated by italics and parentheses, such as (laughing) or (phone rings). Youll also notice that time markers are included in the transcript. These are crucial for researchers working between the transcript and audio. Every five minutes, insert the time on the interview audio directly into the speech. I have included an hour and ten minute marker in the example above. We use double parentheses to indicate our time markers. We do not want to mislead anyone: Some people enjoy transcription a great deal, but for most transcription is dull, tedious, mind-numbing work. Experienced transcribers require about four hours to transcribe every hour of recorded audioless experienced transcribers usually need at least six hours. If you are typing your transcript on a computer and working with a digital audio file, we have some tips that can help you speed up your work. First, use a transcription software. ExpressScribe is a basic, easy-to-use software that you can download for free online at http://www.nch.com.au/scribe/index.html. Essentially, ExpressScribe allows you to control the audio and type within the same window, so that you are not switching between the program that plays and pauses your interview and the program you use to type the transcription. This cuts down on a your transcription time a good deal. ExpressScribe also allows you to slow down or speed up the audio. (A quick note about ExpressScribe: The program automatically saves your transcription as you type it, but to be safe, we recommend saving whatever you have transcribed in another document on your computer at the end of every session.)

7 The final step in processing your interview is creating an index. This is an additional guide for anyone that might listen to your oral history in the future. An index is similar to a table of contents it is simply a list of the major topics covered in your interview, along with the times when they occur. A sample index is included at the end of this guide. (Please note that we can only accept digital files of transcripts and indices in .doc or .pdf formatsunfortunately, we cannot accept transcripts written by hand or typewriter.) Once you have all four of these things interview audio file, release form, transcript, and index you are ready to submit your oral history! You can email it to the project oral historian at patriciasazani@gmail.com or arrange to bring it to her in person. You can also look into other archives that take donations of oral histories UCLAs Center for Oral History Research, for example, accepts oral histories about the history of the Los Angeles area.

In anticipation of your donation, the Lompoc Museum and Lompoc Valley Historical Society thank you for all the hard work you put into your oral history! We hope you enjoyed it!

8 Sample Invitation Letter and Pre-Interview Questionnaire Dear Mrs./Mr./Ms. (Interviewees name), This letter is an invitation to participate in the Lompoc Oral History Project, a collaboration between the Lompoc Museum and Lompoc Valley Historical Society. Through the project, the organizations have invited the people of Lompoc to collect and submit their own oral histories to the Museum and Historical Societys archives, where they will be available for future educational purposes and research. I would be very grateful if you would accept this invitation to be interviewed. If you would like to be interviewed, we can make an appointment to sit down for at least an hour to do the interview. Below are a list of pre-interview questions that will likely come up during the interviewit will serve as a memory-jolt for you and as a guide for me when I am preparing my questions. Youll notice the questions start at the very beginning, with your birthin oral history, we are interested in the entire life history of a person and in the individuals perspective. If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to contact me at (your phone number). Thank you very much for considering this interviewI look forward to speaking with you. Sincerely, (Your name)

9 Pre-interview Questions Your full name Where and when you were born Mothers full name, date and place of birth

Fathers full name, date and place of birth

When you/your family came to Lompoc, and why

All the places that youve lived in Lompoc, and for how long

Jobs/occupations you have held, in Lompoc and out

Activities youve been involved inclubs, groups, churches, hobbies, events, both in Lompoc and out

10 Interview Release Form (Sample) By signing below, I give my permission for any audio recordings, or transcriptions of that audio, made during this project to be used by the Lompoc Museum and Lompoc Valley Historical Society for educational purposes, including but not limited to publications, exhibitions, the World Wide Web, and presentations. I agree to these uses and to the access of the public to the materials I create for this project, except for any restrictions, noted below. By giving my permission, I do not give up any copyright or performance rights that I may hold. Project name: _____________________________________________________ Date of Interview: _________________________________________________ Place of Interview: _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ Interviewee (printed): _______________________________________________ Signature: _________________________________________________________ Date: _____________________________________________________________ Interviewer (printed): ________________________________________________ Signature: _________________________________________________________ Date: _____________________________________________________________ Restriction Description: __________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

11 Sample Index Interviewee: Dibblee Poett Project: Lompoc Oral History Project Date of interview: April 5, 1989 Location of interview: San Julian Ranch, Hwy 1 Interviewer: Meryl Chesnut H/M/S 0:00:09 0:01:05 0:03:44 0:17:10 Topic Introduction birth; parents birthdates, places, and occupations; grandparents birthdates, places, and occupations early childhood: living in Santa Barbara, schools attended, building a house at San Julian, siblings, pranks San Julian Ranchs size, the familys early start in sheep business, William Cooper and Mr. Hollister

12 Additional Oral History Resources Donald Ritchies Doing Oral History: A Practical Guide This is a wonderful book that goes over every step in the oral historical method in detail-- a lot that we dont cover here, such as recording technology, and ways to use oral histories after youve collected them. Oral History for the Local Historical Society by Willa K. Baum This is the guide that the Lompoc Museum and Lompoc Valley Historical Society volunteers used to create the 1979 interviews. It is straightforward and thorough an excellent guide. Alessandro Portelli is one of oral historys greatest scholars, and one of my favorites. One of his best known essays is What makes oral history different?, a chapter from his book The Death of Luigi Trastulli and Other Stories: Form and Meaning in Oral History. You can find it on p. 63 of the online book The Oral History Reader. The National Parks also have a comprehensive guide for collecting oral histories: http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/oh/oralh1.htm A great interview with radical priest Frank Morales by oral historian Amy Starecheski: http://brooklynhistory.org/blog/tag/amy-starecheski/