Oral History Advanced Topics: How Do I Ask This?

Transforming lives through the power of the humanities!

HumanitiesDC

A closer look at how oral historians ask questions and navigate interviews.

Watha T. Daniel Shaw Library

This workshop offers advanced training in asking questions and navigating different situations during an oral history interview. Attendees should already have some oral history and/or interviewing experience prior to this session. Facilitated by local oral historian and DC Oral History Collaborative trainer, Dr. Anna F. Kaplan, “How Do I Ask This?” will help participants strengthen their interviewing skills by analyzing examples and collaboratively workshopping interview questions.  Facilitated by local oral historian and DC Oral History Collaborative trainer, Dr. Anna F. Kaplan, “How Do I Ask This?” will help participants strengthen their interviewing skills by analyzing examples and collaboratively workshopping interview questions.  In this workshop, attendees will <ul><li>Explore what makes for a good oral history question </li><li>Work through anxieties and hesitations about asking certain kinds of questions </li><li>Brainstorm strategies for navigating difficult interview scenarios </li><li>Develop a stronger list of oral history questions that help prompt the kinds of stories and reflections interviewers look for </li></ul>

Anna F. Kaplan, PhD, is an independent historian and oral historian whose work focuses on issues of race, memory, and historical narratives. She has worked on oral history projects with the Archives of American Art, the National Park Service, and local community projects throughout Washington, DC. Her current projects include a book manuscript about the memory of the University of Mississippi’s desegregation and a research project on Black women’s labors in establishing oral history programs or centers in the US. She also teaches courses on US history and oral history at American University and UDC. This past year she published the article “Cultivating Supports while Venturing into Interviewing During COVID-19” and organized the virtual panel “In Our Own Words: Deaf Perspectives in Oral History and Public History.” Anna also serves as the Vice President of Oral History in the Mid-Atlantic Region and Co-Chair of the Oral History Association’s Diversity Committee.The DC Oral History Collaborative (DCOHC) documents, preserves, and celebrates the lived experiences of all Washington, DC residents and communities through oral history. The Collaborative accomplishes this by providing training, mentorship, resources, programs, and funding to current and aspiring oral historians.

T﻿his event is part of the DC Oral History Collaborative. The Collaborative is a unique partnership between HumanitiesDC and the DC Public Library, started in 2017, that incorporates grant funding, trainings, coaching and other resources to help residents document, preserve, and celebrate the history of all DC communities, specifically through oral history.Many of the narratives collected are preserved in the People’s Archive at the DC Public Library, and available to the public. To date, nearly 400 narratives have been collected through the Collaborative.

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Oral History Advanced Topics: How Do I Ask This?

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Oral History Advanced Topics: How Do I Ask This?

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