How to Document History
What I Learned as an Oral History Intern with the DHS The Neighborhoods: Where Detroit Lives Project
Before hearing about the Summer 2021 oral history internship, I’d already been planning on signing up when volunteer opportunities reopened at the Detroit Historical Society. I’d wanted to get involved in historical work—particularly museum work—for a long time, so the internship was an amazing opportunity. Along with the other interns in my group, I held interviews for the Neighborhoods: Where Detroit Lives oral history project, gathering stories about people’s experiences in their Detroit neighborhoods, past and present.
Hearing these stories was incredible; everyone I spoke to had their own unique experience as a Detroiter, and their own insights into the city’s history and future. Beyond everything I learned about Detroit through these interviews, I found a passion for the process of recording history.
From the moments where I asked just the right questions to get information I didn’t know I would find, to the methodical work of transcribing the interviews afterwards, every step was essential and rewarding. This internship taught me about how history is preserved, giving me insight into the role I want to continue to play in the process going forward.
The Process Of Documenting Oral History
Holding the interview is important and for researchers and future archives written or given consent for the collection and distribution of materials is essential and ethical.
Holding the Interview
Zoom has a built-in recording feature. For my in-person interview, meanwhile, I found that my phone got surprisingly good audio, despite lots of background noise.
I followed the list of interview questions closely, because having this crossover in topics between interviews makes gathering historical data easier for people using these oral histories for research.
More specific follow-up questions were frequently improvised, since the conversation could go in all kinds of directions.
Transcribing
Transcribing may not seem like an important step but it can often be the most important after the interview itself. A transcribed document not only preserves the interview for targeted research but also allows those with disabilities to access the interview. Below are some transcribing tips.
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After the interview, I would privately upload the recording to YouTube, since I learned from my supervisor that after you wait a few hours, it autogenerates a rough transcript that you can download to save time.
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In my second readthrough of the transcript, I made my best guess as to where to put capitalization and punctuation based on context. I also began spell-checking.
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I copied the transcript into the DHS transcript formatting. At the beginning, I put a general summary of the interview topics, as well as a brief interviewee biography. This expands future search results.
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The third readthrough was done while listening to the interview recording, and I made edits accordingly, rearranging sentences to better reflect what was said. I also added in [LAUGHS] where necessary, since these aren’t present on the transcripts by default.
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In my first readthrough of the transcript, I cut out timestamps and formatted the interview by speaker, adding in the initials of interviewer and interviewee. This helps with readability and context.
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From here, I would do a few more readthroughs, double- or triple-checking particular lines and researching any names or places mentioned to make sure they were spelled properly. Sometimes I’d add in brackets with extra information about any topics that might need clarification, such as shortened business names.
Check out our other 2021 presenters