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Summary: Oral history interviews



I had several responses to my question about questions to ask in oral
history.

Several people suggested that although the idea was to make
videotapes of the interviews, it would also be a good idea to make an
audiotape, as it would be easier to transcribe from an audiotape than
from a videotape.

Other suggestions included:

*Make sure you get the interviewees to sign release forms, so the
interviews
will be accessible.

* A three-page listing of questions from Bart H. Ryckbosch at
bryckbos@artic.edu

*    I would suggest asking them some questions about their
background
     and what led to their accepting appointment as a board member.

*Try to get them to discuss _controversial_ events or personalities.
They may
not want to, for legal/slander reasons, but part of the history
includes the
dirty bits. Maybe you could lead in with a discussion of the less
flattering
parts that have already appeared in public print.


* A question that's always worked well when interviewing candidates
for political office is some variant of, "What's the single best
thing and
the single worst thing the board did during your tenure?"

         Variations are most/least successful; things you're proudest
of;
greatest accomplishment/disappointment.  You can also ask for two or
three
items rather than one.

         The "best" question makes them review their entire tenure
and make
a selection--you can ask a follow up question, too, especially if
they
don't include the most obvious ones.  The "worst" question is even
more
revealing, and lends itself to questions such as "why?," "how could
it have
been done better?,"  "whose fault was it?," etc.

         What's the selection process for your board members?  Ask
them why
they were asked to be on (or ran for) the board.  Did they have an
agenda
or did they represent some constituent group?  Why did they leave the
board?

         It's always better to ask specific questions than open-ended

questions.  People turn to oral histories because the board minutes
don't
tell them enough.  Pitching them softballs like "what were the
important
developments while you were on the board," won't add much to the
record
unless you're ready to ask follow up questions like, "What were the
alternatives and why did the board decide as it did?".  Ask things
like,
"How did the board come to a consensus on the [whatever] issue?"
"Who was
on which side when you did [such-and-such]?"  "How did the members of
the
board align themselves on [financial, e.g.] issues?"  The usual rule
of
thumb for oral history is that the interviewer should be doing ten
hours of
preparation for every hour of interview.

         Since you're doing video, having some visual props is always
fun
and gets you away from the "talking head" syndrome.  Have them hold
one of
your publications or brochures, or a photo of the president you're
asking
about. Or a cookbook!  Just be ready to hide the props if your
subject gets
more involved with the prop than with your questions.


* A) I'd probably have them give a short personal history as well;
where they
were born & grew up, how they got involved in their professions, etc.
 Not a
ton, but enough to give a sense of personality. I found at
McGraw-Hill that
the OH collections helped me out enormously just tracing how the
individual
themselves got to the company (as much as what they did once they
arrived)

B) Obviously, be flexible - be prepared to follow up an interesting
line of
thought or questioning, even if it's not what you planned on talking
about,
as long as it relates to the subject at hand

C) maybe ask how the events of the world around affected the
institution -
it can put the conversation in context if you ask how the attack on
Pearl
Harbor affected CIA, or whatever.

[Ironically, in our case, Pearl Harbor did not affect the school, per
se, because the Culinary Institute was started in 1946, but it was
started in order to help returning military people gain skills, so it
followed from the chain of events that Pearl Harbor started. And
coincidentally, I'l working right now on putting up an exhibit about
Pearl Harbor, the start of the CIA as a school to train returning
military people, military food, and similar items!]

Thanks to everyone for their help. At the last minute, I was able to
make arrangements to interview the one surviving CIA president who was
on campus for the event, and also interviewed a former faculty member,
and one person who had been a student, board member (29 years) and
instructor. We've discussed the fact that we would like to get more of
his memories on tape the next time he is in the area. The other person
I interviewed is a former administrator/former acting president who
has already put many hours of memories on tape, and this time just
recorded a message of tribute to our current President, soon to become
President Emeritus, and a message of congratution to the person who
will become President as of Nov. 1.

The people I interviewed either evaded or turned around questions
about worst thing done/regrets, etc. (e.g., "regretted that he didn't
have more time")!!



Christine Crawford-Oppenheimer
Special Collections Librarian/Archivist

Culinary Institute of America
1946 Campus Drive
Hyde Park, NY  12538
(845) 451-1757
c_crawfo@culinary.edu

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