Uncategorized – Page 55

A Neighborhood Remembers

One of the final interviews of Tuskegee Airman Roscoe Brown. A conversation with Rabbi Avraham Weiss. Surprising information from some of the members of the Sisters of Charity at the College of Mount Saint Vincent. Those were just some of the audio interviews captured by volunteers and staff at the Riverdale branch of the New York Public Library for the project “Remembering Riverdale: Our Neighborhood Oral History.” The goal was to capture the life stories of the movers and shakers and the everyday residents of Riverdale. The project lasted for months and involved scores of volunteers, interviewers and interviewees, many of whom gathered at the Riverdale library branch in late November to celebrate the completion of their task. To read complete article, with a link to the website click here.

Oral History Annual Meeting (USA)

Before we give up on 2016, we’re taking one last look back at one of our favorite events from the year – the OHA Annual Meeting. We’ve already talked about why oral historians love the connections they make at the Annual Meeting, and how it serves as a yearly dose of sanity. Today we bring you some final reflections from Mark Garcia, who served as our local guide during the meeting and managed social media throughout the conference. Enjoy his summary, and make sure to get your proposal for #OHA2017 in soon. The conference, entitled “Engaging Audiences: Oral History and the Public” will be held in Minneapolis, and the deadline for submissions is 31 January. We look forward to seeing you there. Read full article here.

Remembering Pearl Harbor

On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese military launched a surprise attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor. On that clear Sunday morning, several Eastern Connecticut residents were assigned to ships, submarines and artillery posts in the area. At 7:48 a.m., the base was attacked by 353 planes carrying bullets, bombs and torpedoes. There was little warning for the Americans below. What follows is an oral history of that December morning, as recalled by local veterans in stories that appeared in The Bulletin through the years. While most of the witnesses to history that day have since died, the memories of their experiences live on. Read full article here.

Daylesford – Australia’s LGBTIQ Capital

In March this year (2016) we spoke to historian Sarah Rood about a project she had embarked on to trace the history of LGBT Daylesford.Now, this remarkable project called 'Daylesford Stories' is online as part of a commission by Culture Victoria. For more read here. The link is at the bottom of the article.

Led Zeppelin Greatest Hits

Below is an excerpt from Marc Myers’ new book “Anatomy of a Song: The Oral History of 45 Iconic Hits That Changed Rock, R&B, and Pop” (Grove Press), which you can buy on Amazon. In it, Myers talks to Led Zeppelin member Jimmy Page and collaborators about the making of one of the band’s hits that changed rock history, “Whole Lotta Love.” Released in November 1969, the song helped kick off a wave of more experimental rock on radio. To read more click here.

Doing Oral History

Oral history is our most ancient tradition, and today we have the technology to make oral history more permanent and enduring. Consider the iPhone for example. You can record up to 50 minutes of video on it and can record almost unlimited amounts of audio using the voice memos app. It is unobtrusive and, using a flexible little tripod Scatena showed the group, can be easily set up to record. For full story click here.

Battle for the Aleutian Islands

Ramon Rivas' daughter interviewed her father about this little known battle. Dutch Harbor is on the island of Unalaska. It’s part of the Aleutian Island chain in the Bering Strait off the coast of Alaska. The Aleutians are treeless, volcanic islands and had been fairly isolated, until the 1940s. But World War II brought change to that remote part of the U.S. Read full story and listen to audio here.

Christiaan Barnard and Telethon

A comedy song written in 1960 for British comedian Peter Sellers and Italian screen beauty Sophia Loren was used in the Telethon. For many West Australians, it will always be remembered as the song performed by soap star Chantal Contouri and heart surgeon Christiaan Barnard on Telethon in 1979. “I always loved coming to Telethon and singing that song with Professor Barnard was a real highlight,” 67-year-old Adelaide-based Contouri recalls. “It was a one-off but it has become a television classic. It was great fun, having this world-famous surgeon chasing me around a couch. I remember it very fondly." For full story with video click here.

Nimbin’s Aquarius Festival

Seventy-five hours of interviews with Nimbin locals about the 1973 Aquarius Festival have been released online, with a plea to ‘digital volunteers’ to help transcribe them. Using a new innovative online tool called Amplify, developed by the State Library of NSW in partnership with the New York Public Library, anyone from anywhere can now search, listen to and help transcribe the audio collection. For full story click here.

History of Lameroo Beach baths, Darwin

On Larrakia land, near a freshwater spring, a pool was once open to anyone "except full-blooded Aboriginals [sic], who shall not be allowed to use the baths at any time". That was according to the Lameroo Baths Regulations, which governed the official swimming spot when it opened on the city shoreline almost 100 years ago. Matthew Stephen, who manages the NT Archives' Oral History Unit, told 105.7 ABC Darwin the pool opened in a special place for the area's first inhabitants. For full story click here.