In the MCC Abbotsford conference room on Sept. 27, the Heritage Abbotsford Society (HAS) sponsored and hosted an Oral History Workshop welcoming people to learn the art of oral history interviews. The field of study known as oral history consists of gathering, preserving, and interpreting the memories and voices of people and communities. Throughout the workshop, this interview process was broken down into manageable steps: how to prepare for an interview, how to conduct the interview, and what to do after.
The practice of recording oral history is important because it preserves the stories of generations for the knowledge and teaching of those to come.
Oral history interviews place the speaker and their story at the heart of the practice. As mentioned in the workshop, it is integral to approach the interview with compassion and a willingness to listen and to cultivate patience. Before the interview occurs, a mission statement and release form should be involved to ensure the narrator is well informed and consents to the interview. It is also good practice to hold a preliminary interview in order to become acquainted with the narrator, find out which topics they would like to talk about, and which to avoid. The main takeaway for me from the workshop discussions was “do no harm.”
The three hour workshop was led by Phillip Sherwood, a UFV alumnus, who has been documenting oral history for 20 years. His first book as an oral history recorder was written on behalf of a woman he had met through his work, teaching English to adult immigrants. The woman contacted Sherwood and asked if he would be willing to write a book commemorating the life of her late husband. After interviewing the woman, he compiled her story and notes she had received from friends of her husband into what would be his first oral history book, and this inspired him to do more.
“I remember looking at it and [saying], this is very creative, and this is the kind of work I’d like to do.”
Since then Sherwood has written, or otherwise been involved with, more than 25 oral history books. While many of the books he has written were for those who were able to pay for his services, he also realizes there are people who can’t afford this, but still have stories to tell. And this helped inspire the creation of this workshop, as a way of reaching more people interested in preserving history.
“There’s lots of people who have very incredible, amazing stories that are of great value … So, what I wanted to do was to develop courses like this, to empower, and enable people to do it themselves.”
HAS, the sponsor of the workshop, is a non-profit organization with a mission to collect, record, preserve, and share the stories of Abbotsford. They partnered with Sherwood to provide a free opportunity for anyone interested in learning how to interview people to preserve their oral history. Christina Reid, executive director of HAS, wanted to host this event to help record the history, because they cannot do it alone.
For HAS and their goals of preserving history and the knowledge held in oral traditions, it was really important to arrange this workshop. Experienced interviewers can make a big impact recording this kind of information. When it came to organizing the event, Reid said that connecting with Sherwood was top of mind.
“We need to have more research. We need to have more volunteers … That’s why we started doing this … but we couldn’t find a facilitator. Nobody offered this. And so we found a gap … Fortunately for us, we have worked with Philip in the past when we wrote a book about family history Pioneer stories … And we have maintained that relationship because he’s really good at what he does … he came out of retirement to do this with us, which I think is great.”
For students interested in history, there are practicums available at HAS. Reid expressed that she is very interested in helping students continue their learning in the heritage sector, sharing that there is space for anyone.
“There’s no definition for who [a] Heritage professional is, it’s probably 50 different jobs. If you want to become a Heritage professional on some level, chances are I can help you out … I get students that are game changers for us in terms of the ideas and the inspiration … I can help you leverage the work experience that you get here.”
