I did an Oral history on my family's geneology and believe me, it's something to hear. It's very nice to see and hear the elders of the family speak like it's nothing. If you do have elders still around, get a ideocamera and a few blank tapes and set it up and just let it run. The nice thing about that is you can get their knowledge and history and you can also get a good videotape of them BEFORE they pass on and the best part of that is they are telling the family story to you and to whoever is watching.Paz
— yolanda medina-perez <windrocklili@…>
wrote:>
> Recently I went to the library at UTEP in El Paso
> and discovered two
> interesting projects, one which deals with oral
> history and
> basically dealing with their memories of life in El
> Paso and of
> course how they lived back in the early 1930s, 40s,
> etc. My cousins
> grandmother was interviewed and recorded. The
> conversation was later
> transcribed and is available to the public. The
> second discovery
> were the files of Cleofas Calleros. During the
> 1940s, people who
> lived in in the US and were originally from Mexico
> would go to his
> office for documentation if they needed to go into
> the interior of
> Mexico. In these records I found pictures of my four
> grandparents,
> uncles,aunts,cousins and inlaws. Some of the
> documents give place of
> birth, place, parents, spouse and their prsent
> adddress. They even
> include a brief physical description. WOW! what a
> find, they also
> made copies for me. Just visit the 6th floor at UTEP
> Library but be
> prepared with list of names and plenty of time. The
> one draw back is
> the very sad fact that the files from A-E FILES WERE
> DESTROYED
> before the new owners offered the collection to the
> University.
> Thanks to UTEP I now have a little more info about
> my family and
> some very treasured pictures, Oh and by the way they
> allow you to
> take a digital camera in and take pictures.
> Now my QUESTION???
> Have any of the ranchos members done any oral
> history work and if so
> what would be a good format for genealogy/family
> purposes? Help
>
>
>
>=====
Javier M. Barrios
That is a great idea. It also helps if you give them the questions ahead of time. It gives them time to think about it and you get better information. Make sure you have a good video camera and a good mic. Good sound is key. You may also want to give them old pictures so as to help them remember.I have found that my mother feels most confortable
talking about the family history is about the table
when she is making tamales.good luck.
— Pacorro73@… wrote:
> In all honesty, recording Oral History is a truly
> beautiful gift we can give
> our future descendants. Not only is oral history a
> significant aspect of
> genealogy, but it is what recording family history
> is all about. We need to
> remember that the names that we see and research in
> our files, were those of real
> living breathing human beings too. Now that they
> are no longer with us, we
> must preserve their memory, and remember who they
> were.
>
> Although I must admit I have not yet done this, I
> have read that you should
> prepare before you just start video taping your
> elders. If you ask really good
> questions, you will get really good answers. Be
> prepared to be flexible and
> reactive to your interviewee and sit and back and
> enjoy while listening to the
> stories and let them reminisce and remember. You
> will see that the past and
> countless family stories and anecdotes, will make
> your family’s history come
> alive. Blend your questions in lively conversation
> that allow the memories to
> develop and branch out, but be ready to guide the
> chat back if you go off on a
> tangent. But on the other hand, these tangents can
> provide the most
> interesting, fascinating, sad, glorious, happy, or
> nail-biting stories of your
> family’s past, and you’ll have them recorded for
> posterity. Imagine what kind of
> treasure they will become to our descendant’s
> descendants? It would be like
> having a diary of your retatarabuelo’s stories
> complete with pictures.
>
> You know know I have to do this as soon as possible
> myself, because I only
> have one more grandparent left. Mi Abuelita Cruz is
> my father’s mother, and
> I’ve already talked and she’s shared many wonderful
> stories, but now I seriously
> have to get them down on tape.
>
> I hope you are now as inspired as I am to not waste
> any more time, and take
> the time to record your family’s oral history.
> Remember, it’s a labor of love.
> And if we don’t act now, the opportunity to do so
> will have
> passed…forever. Don’t let this happen. Preserve
> your oral history.
>
> Atentamente,
> Steven F. Hernandez
>
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