Finding Out Who You Are

Posted on November 1, 2014 by bob in Discover Your Past

Alabama Department of Archives and History

The holiday season brings multiple generations of families and friends together to celebrate and mark the passing of another year. Use this special time to share stories from the past and to learn more about the unique experiences of your family and friends. As time passes and memories fade, talking to your loved ones and capturing their stories become increasingly important.

The process of collecting and preserving those stories is called oral history. It can be as informal as a casual family conversation around the dinner table, or as formal as a structured interview captured on an audio or video recording.

Oral histories provide new perspectives and connections to the past that cannot be found in text books. As you prepare to gather with loved ones during the holidays, take time to think about people whose stories you would like to know, and questions that you might ask.

Here are some open-ended questions to prompt the sharing of memories:

— What are your first memories as a child?

— How did you fall in love with your spouse?

— Who was the most influential person in your life, and why?

— What are the most important differences between the world you live in today and the world you grew up in?

— In what ways did your life turn out differently from what you expected?

— What do you think has been your greatest accomplishment?

— What would you like to do that you haven’t done yet?

— Here is a map of the community where you grew up. Tell me about the places where you and your family went to school, shopped, worked, worshipped, etc.

— Who are the people in this family photograph? What do you remember about the occasion and the location where it was taken?

To learn more about conducting an effective oral history interview, and options for making sure your interview is preserved for posterity, visit the web site of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/folklife/familyfolklife/oralhistory.html.

This article is based in part on resources at the Library of Congress and the South Dakota State Archives. The Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH) in Montgomery has been collecting, preserving, and sharing the stories of our state and its people for more than a century. It is the state’s official government records repository, as a special collections library and research facility, and as home of the Museum of Alabama. Visit www.archives.alabama.gov to learn more. Open Mon.-Sat.,  8:30-4:30.  Admission is free.

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