Family Oral History Across the World

Mary Contini Gordon, Ed.D, Educational Psychology, UCLA with honors has held lead roles in corporations and educational institutions for research and development. She taught the introduction to graduate research in the California State University System. She has authored a family history under contract and biography with the support of NPS, both based on oral history interviews.

'For those interested in capturing their family history before it is lost, this book is the most complete, detailed guide one could desire. Dr. Gordon covers everything from planning to interviewing to media capture; her case studies demonstrate how important such histories can be to descendants seeking to understand their own identities.'Dorothy Leonard, Harvard Business School, USA‘Oral history is a valuable but still underused resource for family history. I would recommend this book to anyone considering its use, both for the wider context in which it is presented and explained here, and the wealth of practical and ethical guidance that it offers.’Cynthia Brown, Freelance Oral Historian, UK'Mary Gordon's book Family Oral History Across the World has finally provided future authors who wish to write their family's story with a step-by-step guide to how to go about it. Mary Gordon has skillfully added fascinating examples of the ways people from various parts of the world have embarked on writing about their families' past and what they have learnt from this experience, weaving these into her 5-phase approach to writing a successful family oral history.'Deirdre Pirro, Journalist and Attorney, The Florentine Newspaper, Italy'Kudos to Dr. Contini-Gordon for her well researched new book on family histories. It is full of enlightening interviews and insights.'Jo Ann Emmerich, TV and Media Executive‘“Family Oral History Across the World” is a fascinating treatise on how the memory of our ancestors is retained for future generations. The book provides a most valuable service.’Truby Chiaviello, PRIMO, A Magazine for and about Italian Americans, 2023, p.53 http://www.onlineprimo.com'This book offers a practical set of processes for collecting oral histories and storing them. It provides ways to get started and plan, the issues to address, and many suggestions on preservation and storage. [...] This book opens up an approach to family stories that can sit happily next to family photos and a family tree.'Sherryl Abrahart, Genealogists' Magazine, Journal of the Society of Genealogists, March 2024, vol.34, no.9, www.sog.org.uk, UK[This is] "an important book on family oral histories…Gordon provides numerous suggestions on how to conduct family oral histories, preserve and use them, protocols to consider, and recording techniques. The book has a wealth of information that will be of interest and use to all families. Gordon offers many aspects of doing oral histories within families, but my favorite is her section, “Indigenous Families of the Southwest,” which including information on the Mission Context, California Indian Family Histories, and Boarding Schools.”Clifford E. Trafzer, University of California, Riverside, https://www.cihcfoundation.org/"I highly recommend Family Oral History Across the World to genealogists and facilitators of family oral history projects to use as a framework over multiple generations with a global perspective. I also recommend Family Oral History for upper-level undergraduate and graduate public history, archival, data collection, anthropology, and oral history courses. Family Oral History can serve as a significant secondary source for any type of oral history research."Latif A. Tarik, Elizabeth City State University, The Oral History Review, March 2025, vol.52, no.1, The Oral History Review | Taylor & Francis OnlineIn regard to the assignments under Support Materials:Sherryl Abrahart, Society of Genealogists UK, Honorary Book Reviews Editor, points out that 1. Case studies in the book offer real world applications for oral histories, 2. The Baylor archived recordings demonstrate a way to start an interview that addresses what will be covered and builds interviewer-narrator rapport, 3. Emotions come through audio more than through transcripts. (See slide 13)Jennifer Baumgartner, Professor U of Louisiana, suggests students write a reflection about a person in the book before reading a transcript from the Baylor Archive and then write how the transcript changed the student’s view about the individual. (See slide 14)

• Table of ContentsFOREWORDMAP OF MAJOR LOCATIONSPREFACEPART I: ORAL HISTORY APPLIED TO FAMILY HISTORYCHAPTER 1: ORAL HISTORY AS PART OF FAMILY HISTORYFamily History Defined by Families and by Those Who Study ThemThe Role of Oral History for a Family HistoryFamily Oral History as a Research MethodologyMemoirs, Autobiographies, BiographiesWhy Stories MatterA note on the author’s family in a wide, wide worldCHAPTER 2: WHAT MAKES A FAMILY? WHO SAYS?The Real-time Concept of FamilyFrom Exploratory Research for This Book, Who Says?From Census DataMulti-generations, More Interview OpportunitiesInternal Country DifferencesA note on the author’s family in a multigenerational world.CHAPTER 3: KINSHIP IN CHANGING DEMOGRAPHIESCensus Data Combined with Other SourcesBackdrop Research to Give ContextWhat Different Types of Families Have to SayAlternative family? It never felt like one!Not Married, with ChildrenThe Possible Impact of GenderStep or Blended Families:Friends and Other AssociatesSingle PeopleA note on the author’s friends like familyPART II: CASE STUDIESCHAPTER 4: SMALL BUSINESS AND CAREER FAMILIESSmall Business FamiliesThe BakersThe World on WheelsMarket GardenersCareer FamiliesNational Park Service FamiliesScientist MusiciansMine WorkersA note on the author’s family agricultural roots transplantedCHAPTER 5: THE COLD CASE OF A LOST PLANTATION FAMILYOral History Challenged by SilenceA View Across BoundariesGetting Away from FamilyBreaking Silence to Find Family and Family HistoryGetting StartedFinding Grandmother and Her FamilyFinding Aunt Ella’s Blue BloodsFinding His Biological FatherThe Ancestry of TensquatawaAcademic Research: Effects of Slavery on Descendants of Plantation SlavesLost Census DataDemographic Studies and Discoveries, Plantation EffectsA Plantation Descendant on the Plantation Effect Over GenerationsA Plantation Descendant on the Value and Validity of Oral HistoryAuthor’s Note: A Freeze Frame ConnectionCHAPTER 6: INDIGENOUS FAMILIES OF THE AMERICAN SOUTHWESTSpecial TerminologyFamily And Lineage Histories of California Mission IndiansOvercoming Stereotypes and ExtinctionThe Mission Context and Challenges to Family HistoryThe Role of Mission San Fernando Rey as a Lost and FoundOral Tradition and DNA: Do They Concur?Years Later, Changes Affecting Mission Indian Family HistoryFamily Histories in Yaqui CommunitiesTrilingual Family Oral Histories of the Pasqua YaquiVoices from Penjamo, another Yaqui CommunityMeeting, Listening, SearchingIteration to TrustProtocols of Navajo Family Oral HistoryToward Indigenizing Family Oral HistoryEffect of Boarding School on Language and HistoryInterviewing Family Members, the Importance of Place and ProtocolPassing the Stories OnAuthor’s Note: Where did they all go?CHAPTER 7: FAMILIES FROM WAR-TORN, POVERTY-STRICKEN, AND/OR OPPRESSIVE REGIMESFamily Voices, Escaping, Remembering, Moving OnRemembering a German Grandma, Research to Prevent Another HolocaustWartime Effects on Australian Market GardenersA Japanese American Family Experiences and the Passage of TimeComing from Poland under Soviet RuleFrom Vietnam to France, Leaving the Fear BehindComing from Mexico: Murder, Poverty, PTSD, and a Matriarch’s InterventionsOrphaned in the Philippines to a Cross World FamilyFrom the Warm Seychelles to Snowy CanadaSummary Statement from a Dedicated LifeAuthor’s Note: On Behalf of DreamsPART III: FAMILY HISTORY MEMORY, EMOTION, AND ETHICSCHAPTER 8: THE ROLE OF MEMORY IN FAMILY ORAL HISTORYQuick Examples of Memory Sources and their Range of EmotionsTypes of Memory Especially Important to Family Oral HistoryFamily Memory, Autobiographical MemoryCollective, Public, Historical, Individual MemoriesLong Term Memory SubsetsFamily Memory in PracticeChildhood MemoryOral Historical: Making Family Memories in Nontraditional WaysPointers from an Oral Historian Working in Hospital Palliative CarePointers from a Speech Pathologist Working in Home Care SettingsThe Reliability and Validity of MemoriesAuthor’s Note: The Purple ChairChapter 9: THE EMOTIONAL CONTINUUM IN FAMILY ORAL HISTORIESEmotion in This Book’s QuotesStudies About Emotional Content in InterviewsTrauma, PTSD, and Triggering Traumatic MemoryAwareness on the Sadder Side of the Emotional ContinuumSharing Salient Memories or NotCollective Memory with Silence, Secrets, Resilience and KinshipAccessing Family History Interviews, Listener EffectsOn the Positive Side of the Continuum: Pride, Joy, Gratitude ,and MoreAuthor’s Note: A Salient Memory Down the ChuteChapter 10: THE ETHICS OF FAMILY ORAL HISTORYStarting with Informed ConsentEthics Considered by IntervieweesFrom Dialogs on Navigating the Ethics of Family Oral HistoryA Professor in Dialog: What is Ethics?Ethical, Legal, or Moral?Autonomy and DignityTrust and FairnessMulticultural ConsiderationsSpecial Situations and Family DynamicsA Practitioner in Dialog: Quandaries in Family Oral HistoryA Secret?Embarrassment and Secrets?Summary Dialog: Learning EthicsAuthor’s Note: PinocchioPART IV: INTRODUCTION TO A FAMILY ORAL HISTORY PROCESS AND APPLICATIONA Process OutlinedWorking with the FamilyCHAPTER 11: PHASE ONE, GETTING STARTED AND ORGANIZEDLeadership Roles: Anchor, TeamScope and ObjectivesConsent Forms, Family Trees, Outlines and Interviews, at the StartAuthor’s Note: Inside the Family TreeCHAPTER 12: PHASE ONE, ORGANIZING TECHNOLOGYOral History Recording Technologies with Voices of ExpertsTechnology and its Back-up SystemsAudio or Video?Another View on VideoAbout Training for Recording InterviewsVideo OptionsOn-the-road TechnologyAuthor’s Note: Zoom for the HolidaysCHAPTER 13: PHASE ONE, LEARNING ABOUT ARCHIVINGA Tour of ArchivesFamily Established Archives: Chinese, Chiriaco, MoultonWestern Reserve Historical Society Steeped in ContextLDS Church ArchivesNational Park Service Multigenerational Family HistoriesCommunity Archives, EnglandSilent Military Museum Archives, CaliforniaArchiving Family History: The BasicsStarter Filing System that Becomes an Oral History ArchiveNDMS, Interview Data as a Searchable Working File and Early ArchiveCost ConsiderationsAuthor’s Note: A Bridge and a Voice in the Archived BoxCHAPTER 14: PHASE TWO, INTERVIEWINGThe Interview Tenets from the Writings of Oral HistoriansThe Interview ReconsideredPreparing and Conducting Family History InterviewsExample: The Initial InterviewExample: The Significant Memories InterviewExample: The Series of Interviews by Time Periods and/or by SitesExample: Specialized InterviewsWho Gets Interviewed?Context and Fact CheckingProgress ReviewsAuthor’s Note, A Grandma’s Role in InterviewsCHAPTER 15: PHASE TWO, TEXTUALIZING FAMILY VOICES IN CONTEXTAbout Family Oral History TranscriptionsOther Approaches to TranscribingEditorial InterventionEditorial Integration Beyond WordsEditorial Integration over a GenerationAuthor’s Note: Family Over Time and PlaceCHAPTER 16: PHASES THREE, FOUR, FIVE: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER, INTEGRATING, WRITING/SCRIPTING, SHARINGThe Roles of Interviews with other Sources.Weaving Multiple Stories into a HistoryIntegrating VisualsWays of Sharing Family Oral HistoryClosing Thoughts from Four Elders and Two YoungersEPILOGUE: AN ETHICS DIALOGUE ACROSS THE OCEANAn Ethics of CareReconciling differing narrativesThe integrity of the narrativeFamily secrets or new informationWhere will family history interviews be shared?Promoting the Persistence of MemoryAppendix A: Interview Recognitions, Document and Online SourcesRecorded InterviewsNon recorded Interviews, Phone Conversations, Emails, and MailBooks and Book Chapters Consulted and/or CitedPresentationsArticles CitedSelected Electronic Sites from those MentionedAppendix B: Oral History Resources, Training Sites, and Archives MentionedSome Oral History Online Training and Related TopicsSome Oral History and Related Organizations on EthicsSelected Archives from those MentionedTV and Online Interviews with the AuthorAppendix C Exploratory Research Plans, Forms, ResultsSummary of Exploratory Research ApproachPreliminary ResultsPre-Interview Checkbox Survey FormSummary of the Checkbox Survey ResultsPre-interview Questionnaire FormAppendix D: Example Family Tree with Family AdviceAdvice on Family HistoryAppendix E: Table of FiguresAcknowledgementsIndex TBDAbout the Author