CARLIE COATES
PERSERVING QUALITY
What did you learn in this oral history? How do the experiences of the oral history narrator compare to your knowledge and experiences? How or why does the oral history work as a device for learning about these stories?
I listened to the oral history of Mr. Harold Miller. Mr. Miller has been a resident in Optimistic Park for over 27 years. He considers himself a leader within the area, and he has a personal passion and drive to resolve the issue of educating children away from the streets. Through his oral history, Mr. Miller talks about his upbringing with nature activities and compares the lack of outdoor interest in the community now. Walking through Optimistic Park last month, I did notice there were no designated areas for play, so I understand Mr. Miller’s need and concern for this.
From Mr. Miller’s oral history, I was able to learn more about Optimistic Park than I would from a textbook. Mr. Miller mentions a laundry mat that was located where the new apartments are and a grocery store that has been replaced by the church. The little details he mentions would have been left out if this oral history had not be conducted. Through his descriptions, I am able to use Mr. Miller’s own words and form thoughts about Optimist Park, instead of imposing my personal bias to persuade my thinking.
Discuss the conduct and format of the oral history. What was the quality of the questions? Could the conduct of the interviewer or the form of the questions be improved? Do you have any critiques, positive or negative? I want you to reflect on the interviewing and the conduct of the oral history and comment on what worked and what may have gone better. Were there questions that you wanted to ask?
The oral history was conducted through one interviewer asking questions. During the first few minutes, I sensed that the interviewer may have been nervous or anxious and this continued through the entire oral history. The questions were most definitely pre-planned, as many silences occurred when the interviewer had to think of impromptu questions that were not initially written down. It would have been more successful if the interviewer could have asked Mr. Miller some follow-up questions in regards to certain topics. For instance: Mr. Miller mentioned he spent a lot of time outdoors in local parks. The interviewer could have asked where the parks were located in the area, so we could now see how much the area has changed.
What person, place, event, or historical item do you want to research further? Consider an item that will allow you to do a substantial amount of research in order to create your oral history “webpage.
Mr. Miller briefly mentions his place of birth being Memorial Hospital. The name has now changed to CMC Main. This is technically not within Optimistic Park, but I would like to learn more about it.
Mr. Miller spent a lot of time outdoors as a child and there may be some research available about parks that were in the area.