For this paper, you will be engaging in a short oral history project involving data collection, analysis, and presentation. Each student will choose a particular event in African-American history between 1920 and 2020 that is particularly memorable.
Choosing an obscure topic can often result in a more fascinating, and paradoxically, easier-to-write paper. But the pandemic and the George Floyd protests are current, massively important events for this course, and students are encouraged to use those as topics if they wish.
- a) Define the event
- b) Find individuals living during the period who remember the event
- c) Determine what questions should be asked of those individuals about the event
- d) Pool the data and questions about the event collected and present it in a short analytical report using outside sources.
Interviews need not be in person, and can be done over email, phone, etc. Follow-up interviews may be necessary to clarify certain points raised in the initial interview, and which come up during the creation of the paper.
The questions need not be complex, but each interviewer must have a historical knowledge of the event such that they know how to talk about the event, they know how to listen to the subject concerning the event, and perhaps know how to respond with follow-up questions that may not be on the group’s prepared list of questions.
IMPORTANT NOTE: When we talk about African-American history, it is important to understand that every American’s history is inextricably bound up with “African-American” history. Every event in American history is, in some way, also an event in African-American history. So, you do not need to limit yourself to events that are of primary importance to African-American history, such as events in the Civil Rights movement or the Los Angeles Riots of 1992. You can choose, for instance, the election of Ronald Reagan to the Presidency in 1980, or even the first Iraq War. However, you should choose your interview subjects and relate your questions to the event as the event may pertain to African-American history. For instance, the election of Ronald Reagan to the Presidency in 1980 had a major effect on American social policy towards African Americans. How did the African-American community react to the election? Who was the community’s generally preferred candidate and why? etc. These are all potential questions. Of course, every war impacts the African-American experience as well.
Examples of recent events:
Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Los Angeles Riots of 199
Watts Riots
O.J. Simpson verdict/aftermath
Clarence Thomas Supreme Court hearings
Emmett Till murder and trial
Your paper should consist of three main components. The first two need only be in list format. You should include in your report
1) a list of the prepared questions asked, (1 page)
2) a list of those interviewed, and most importantly (1/4 page)
3) a report analyzing the answers to these questions and any follow-up questions.
Your paper should also use outside sources to describe the event itself and to help analyze the particular perspective your subjects bring to the event. For instance, if you interview your mother about the Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination, and she worked in an office at the time, you might want to find out how working women viewed King at the time. This can help shed light on your mother’s reaction, and on the reaction of middle-class working women in the 1960s in general. This is only one example among an infinite number of examples.
