Interviews

For Thursday's class, I'd like you to listen to the following interviews in addition to reading Chap. 3 of the Pursuit of History:

Peggy Terry, migrant worker, Part 1&2
Sally Rand, fan dancer
Tony Soma, speakeasy owner

These interviews are about the Depression Era. The recordings for each of these interviews can be found here.

The interviewer for each of these recordings was Studs Terkel. A short bio about him can be found here.

While you listen to each interview, I'd like you to answer the following questions. Please jot your answers down somewhere and bring them to class with you so that we can talk more about them.

*What do you know about the interviewer? About the interviewee? What can this information tell us about the interview before we even listen to it?

*What information, from each interview, did you find especially useful or insightful (if you were studying this time period)?

*What types of precautions should historians take for listening to these interviews (provide specific examples from each interview)?

*Which interview was your favorite and why?

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If you are planning on using oral interviews in your research paper (including your own interviews or interviews that others conducted) this class is mandatory!