Preparation = Success

Welcome to this wonderful community journey to capture eyewitness accounts before they are lost.  A common regret lamentation is, "If only I had asked Grandpa John (a question) before he died." The loss of a person who had specific personal information concerning his or her life, other people, or the community in which they lived is a tragedy. Any person can be a record at risk if their firsthand knowledge of past events is not recorded. Project: Oral History helps capture this unique source before it is too late.

What is an Oral History?

Definitions according to The Free Dictionary found online:  “1) Historical information, usually tape-recorded or videotaped, obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. 2) An audiotape, videotape, or written account of such an interview or interviews. 3) The memories of living people about events or social conditions which they experienced in their earlier lives taped and preserved as historical evidence.”

The best way to obtain an oral history is to interview someone. The person asking questions is called the “interviewer” and the person answering the questions is called the “interviewee”.

How Do I Interview?

There are many helpful internet sites that explain and demonstrate how to conduct an interview. Click on the YouTube button for an excellent mini-series done by Minnesota History. Perhaps you would like to know the difference between a regular interview and an oral history interview. Jyl Pattee has fresh ideas of capturing various types of stories. Do you want to leave a legacy or gather family stories and what about the two sides of interviewing? In 5 minutes or less you can view I Want To Interview A Relative. Click on the box, "Interview Question Tips" below for ideas.

Who do I Interview?

The answer to this question all depends on you. Perhaps you would like to interview a relative or a cluster of relatives, maybe neighbors instead; do a history on a business or organization; interview veterans about their experiences; interview individuals who are naturalized Americans; interview others to discover pioneer and settlement history or ancestral histories; record your own stories; recording stories of those who now live in assisted living or rest homes; property history; road and transportation development; social history; recipe/kitchen histories; newspaper & media histories; school and academic histories; impact of laws; politics; schooling; history of Daughters of Utah Pioneers; how stories/examples of pioneers have impacted your life or the lives of others; recording trek experiences; tours of pioneer ancestor's homes and area history; history of scouting for an individual, troop, and/or community; the impact of weather or epidemics on the community; just to name a few. The possibilities are limitless.

You may interview any person or business representative you would like no matter where they live: as long as the person has a tie to Highland or Alpine or one of their ancestors did, or they are somehow related to you or the subject (person of business) for your interview. If you live out of area but want to be an interviewer you are welcome to do so. If you live out of area and someone with Highland or Alpine connections wants to interview you, please do so.

Once you decide who you want to interview be sure to give them an Interviewee Preparation Sheet. An example is provided at the bottom of this page, however, you can change this to fit the scope of your project.  Get the filled in preparation sheet back before your interview. This information will help you know what you need to research as background information.

How Do I Get Involved?

Are you looking to do an eagle project for BSA or fill service hours? Do you want to complete LDS young women's project goals? Are you in school and looking for a service project or to fulfill an assignment? What if you are an adult interested in doing your own or someone else's history? This program is open to all ages. Read the instructions in the booklet and follow the steps in each of the stages. At the end you will turn in your final project to the Daughters of Utah Pioneers representative listed in the Turn In Section. 

What is an M-DISC?

You are responsible to provide all equipment used as well as purchase materials for the final packet including an “M-DISC” for each interviewee packet. The M-DISC is an archival disk guaranteed to last 1,000 years. It is a must for this project. It cannot be “burned” on just any CD burner – The Millenniata site lets you know which type of special drive you must use to burn their disc or instead of purchasing this drive you can use the one at Brigham Young University’s Family History Library within the Harold B. Lee Library for free. To find out more about the M-DISC click here. They have video clips as well as a frequently asked question (faq) section.

What is Utah North Company's role with Project: Oral History?

We are the entity that facilitates this project. We provide the project information and guide on our website and then collect the final product and give it to BYU Special Collections, who will store all the packets. They will be available there for researchers and descendants to view. An Eagle Scout will need to contact his Daughters of Utah Pioneers representative to approve his project before beginning.