My colleagues and our high school class have been using oral history<\/p>\n
methods to construct the Prince<\/p>\n George’s County Information Commons <\/a>history page. Today an expert<\/p>\n from the Oral<\/p>\n History in Education Institute<\/a> at University of Maryland came to class<\/p>\n to teach our students proper interviewing techniques—unfortunately<\/p>\n too late to improve our most important interviews, which are over. I thought<\/p>\n one of the most interesting distinctions she made was between journalism<\/p>\n and oral history. She claimed that oral history is less adversarial than<\/p>\n reporting. "We are recipients of the story," she said. She taught<\/p>\n the students to avoid leading questions and questions that anticipate<\/p>\n yes\/no answers. Open-ended questions are the oral historian’s tool.<\/p>\n The class and I came to understand our serious responsibilities better<\/p>\n as a result of the session. The desegregation of Prince George’s County<\/p>\n Schools was an epic struggle. Understanding it is crucial, since racial<\/p>\n divisions and inequities remain, and no one is sure how to address them.<\/p>\n In nearly half a century since the struggle began, no one had interviewed<\/p>\n some of the key players, such as the first African American students to<\/p>\n attend White schools in our county. Chances are, no one else will interview<\/p>\n them after us. So we alone are creating primary source materials for later<\/p>\n historians—and they better be good. We didn’t seek this responsibility.<\/p>\n Our original intentions were to provide a civics lesson and to develop<\/p>\n innovative ways of using websites. But the responsibility is real even<\/p>\n if we backed into it.<\/p>\n We were given these links to good online oral history projects conducted<\/p>\n by youth: <\/p>\n What<\/p>\n Did You Do, Grandma?<\/a><\/p>\n The Whole World Was<\/p>\n Watching: An Oral History of 1968<\/a><\/p>\n We Made Do: Recalling<\/p>\n the Great Depression<\/a><\/p>\n