Oral History at Family Reunions

by Bobbi Ann Johnson Holmes

                Don’t overlook the opportunity to uncover some great family stories from the elders at your next family reunion. Oral history from senior family members is an invaluable way to preserve and pass down family history. There are a number of ways to approach this at a reunion. How you decide to proceed will depend on the length and location of the reunion, as well as what is comfortable for the storytellers.

Capture Oral History in a Video Interview

                While it wasn’t done at a family reunion, my Uncle Gene Glandon captured an invaluable slice of family history by interviewing my Grandma Hilda and Great Aunt Helen, using an audio recorder. Today digital video cameras make it easier than ever to capture an interview on film.
                Set aside time to interview senior family members, but come armed with a set of specific questions to get the interviews rolling. Find a quiet location to set up comfortable chairs and do the interviews.  Some of the elders will appreciate the attention, while others might prefer audio tape as opposed to video. If you decide to use a tape recorder instead of video, interview the family members one at a time, to make the tape easier to understand.

Family Story Telling

               During most reunions there seems to be a time when a family member (typically the organizer) gets up to make an announcement about the reunion, or attend to some family business. This can be a good opportunity to turn over a few minutes to the elder family members to share family history stories with the group. Ask the elders ahead of time if they have a pertinent family history story to share. Sometimes it’s a good idea to set up a time limit per story, before they begin. This is especially true if one of your elders enjoys talking…and talking….

Informal Oral History

                Another approach is the informal gathering where the topic and agenda is focus on family history. Bring out old family albums and encourage the younger generation to ask questions from their elders.  This is also a good time for the amateur genealogists in the family to get relatives to complete family data questionnaires, such as getting accurate information on each relative’s full name, and the date and location of their birth and marriage.

Questions and Answers

                What is common or boring knowledge to one family member, might be a fascinating nugget of information to another. Pass out blank cards early in the reunion, asking each family member to write out a question they would like to ask of an elder, in relation to family history. Give them time to decide on a question. Later in the reunion, when everyone is gather together, go through the questions and pose them to the elders.  Consider setting up the video recorder to capture this activity.