Life will soon be a little easier for oral historians and a number of other kinds of scholars who have had to gain approval from institutional review boards. Revised federal guidance for such boards, to take effect in 2018, says the following activities are “deemed not to be research: (1) Scholarly and journalistic activities (e.g., oral history, journalism, biography, literary criticism, legal research and historical scholarship), including the collection and use of information that focus directly on the specific individuals about whom the information is collected.” For full story click here.
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Inuit Oral History in Franklin search
A new exhibit in Iqaluit sheds light on the role Inuit oral history played in the search for Sir John Franklin's lost ships — and the relevance of traditional knowledge in everyday life in the territory. The exhibit, "Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (Inuit traditional knowledge) and Franklin," opened last night at Iqaluit's Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum. The exhibit features replicas of items found on board the Franklin's HMS Erebus after its discovery in 2014, including the ship's bell and a dinner plate. For full story click here.
Fukushima earthquake stories told on stage
The figures are overwhelming, almost incomprehensible, as figures associated with catastrophes so often are. Some 18,500 to 20,000 people dead. Most killed by the tsunami that battered the shores of north-eastern Japan after the earthquake of March 11, 2011. A magnitude-9 earthquake, followed by monster waves so strong they were able to dislodge massive oil tanks as easily as if they were driftwood. Waves that flooded the Fukushima nuclear power plant, damaging the cooling system, triggering explosions and radioactive leaks. A level-7 nuclear accident. The ongoing threat of contamination. It is difficult to imagine the fear, the grief, the emotional scars. For full story click here.
Oral History in Forbes
Vilma Ryan spent her early years in Bagtown – a community near the Cowra Aboriginal missions. She left school at 14 but later put herself through TAFE. She then set about improving education for her people. She was on the board of the Murrawina Preschool for Aboriginal children in Redfern and one of four people Charlie Perkins sent to Santa Fe Indian School to learn how to establish an Aboriginal high school, which they did. For full story click here.
Collecting oral histories in Blacktown
Aged care facilities across the district have partnered with the libraries as part of an oral history project. The project is funded by a $17,800 NSW Government grant. Participants will receive a copy of their conversation to keep or share with loved ones. Another copy will be stored in the archive at Max Webber Library in Blacktown. For full story click here.
Hazel de Berg’s Oral Histories
When Hazel de Berg began recording life stories in 1957, the expensive machine she used was cumbersome, heavy and rare. Reel-to-reel tape recorders had only been in Australia for several years; she taught herself to use one and sought advice on the technology from a friend at the ABC. But Ms de Berg's best tool was her natural ability to persuade people to talk — a charm and a persistence which eventually resulted in an extraordinary oral history collection at the National Library of Australia (NLA). For full story click here.
Academic wins award for oral history work in Ireland
IT IS fair to say that Dr Anna Bryson is a good listener – and now has a major award to prove it. Over the course of a fast-tracked career as a historian and now senior research fellow at the School of Law at Queen's University, Belfast, the 40-year-old has specialised in listening to stories from the past – in a concerted bid to inform the future. For full story click here.
New “Jackie” Movie
One week after an assassin’s bullet exploded John F. Kennedy’s head on a street in downtown Dallas, Jackie Kennedy, deeply traumatised by what she had witnessed, summoned journalist Theodore H. White to her Hyannis Port home in Massachusetts for an interview. In the subsequent article, published in Life’s December 6 issue, Jackie gave birth to the Camelot myth that would define the Kennedy legacy. As they tussled over what White could and could not print, Jackie sought to influence how her slain husband would be remembered. Read full article here.
Port Augusta Pollution
One person who was always certain about the root cause of health problems in Port Augusta was the fierce long-time mayor of the town, the late Joy Baluch. Baluch lost her husband – a non-smoker – to lung cancer, and had a child with severe asthma. In her many trips to Adelaide hospitals to seek treatment, she found many children from her town, all suffering similar problems. She was contemptuous of government attempts to blame smoking and other factors for the town’s burden of disease. In an oral history project recorded in 2008, she said pollution from the power stations was the spur for her entering local government. For full story click here.
Transgender Oral History Project
The Transgender Oral History Project has released the first batch of videos and transcripts. The Project is part of the Tretter Collection at the University of Minnesota, one of the nation’s largest collections of LGBTQ history. For full story with link to the oral histories, click here.