International Oral History Association
(Published each 4 months)
Number 2, December
1998.
Starting Points
Agreements regarding IOHA membership
Stemming from the proposals discussed at the Xth International Congress on Oral History, it was agreed that IOHA membership –lasting two years- should begin on the 1st of June -immediately after the biennial Congress has been held- and should expire two years later, on the 30th of June (those enrolling during this period of time being obliged to pay the full fee). Members are entitled to participate in the Association’s proceedings, to vote and to receive IOHA publications. Present membership fees are:- individual membership: 90 German marks (roughly 50 US dollars);students: 45 German marks; institutional: 180 German marks. Payment should preferably be made by credit card.
IOHA is putting together its own Internet page, which aims to serve as a dynamic link between present and potential members. The page offers information about: how to join, activities (especially regarding biennial International Congresses), and publications. The page contains direct electronic-mail links for transmitting messages, opinions and suggestions. It also offers services to all those interested in oral history, with news about activities, projects, publications, financing sources, academic study programs, national and international meetings, the use of Internet for research and teaching, etc. Visit the page and, through it, send us your contributions and comments:
http://www.filo.uba.ar/ravignani/historal/ioha.htm
The World of Words
The annual meeting of the Oral History Association of the United States took place from October 15th to 18th in Buffalo, New York. It was attended by several IOHA council members. During their encounters, they discussed ideas for the presence of our association at the 1999 OHA anual meeting regarding the guidelines of our next conference in Istambul, 2000. It also was agreed to have a closer contact with the OHA and with Howard Green, its new president.
VIth Encounters on "History and Oral Sources."
From the 23rd to the 25th of October, 1998, the VIth Proceedings on "History and Oral Sources" were held in Ávila, taking as their central theme "The crisis of Francoism and the transition: the role played by social movements". Among other activities, three round tables were held (the organization of oral archives, testimonies regarding the Transition, and an homage to Mª Carmen García-Nieto)and 25 research papers were presented, fundamentally along three lines – insitutional and community politics, the workers movement and other social movements, and others who played a part in the transition (women, students, catholics). For 1999, the Oral Sources Seminar Group plans to run an introductory methodological seminar on the use of oral sources in historical research. For further information, contact: Seminario de Fuentes Orales. Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Departamento de Historia Contemporánea. Ciudad Universitaria. 28040 Madrid, Spain.
From Mouth to Page
History, Anthropology and Oral Sources.
In its 20th edition, entitled "Traumas of the 20th Century", the magazine History, Anthropology and Oral Sources includes the articles "Oral history in German historiography" and "Who is the greater victim?", Alexander von Plato ; "Memory versus truth", Mark Roseman; "To speak out or shut up about the Nazi persecution in Germany", Friedhelm Boll ; "Everyday life and violence in a nazi concentration camp", Therkel Straede ; " What’s left of heroism? War crimes and silences", Gertrud Kerschbaumer; "No body, no grave. Memoirs of an inconclusive death", Ludmila da Silva Catela; "Soviet Camps in Germany, 1945-1950: Memorial museums", Anne Kaminsky; "Museums of Glasgow: Domestic violence, shame and silence", Elizabeth Carnegie; "Teaching history through photographs", Silvia Maria Manfredi; "The street is my home", Maria Margarida Cardoso; "An experience of oral history with the mentally handicapped", Janett Levien, and "The irresistible charm of the interview: The politics of oral history in Turkey", Arzu Öztürkmen. Finally, we announce that our last number for this century will deal with the issue: "From genre to sex, from mind to body", for which we would be grateful if articles be sent prior to April 1st, 1999.
Recovered Voices. Oral History Review
This publication of the History Institute of the City of Buenos Aires promotes the tackling of themes related to oral history and underlines the need become more deeply versed in methodologies which question the present through the voices and memories of settlers. Edition No.2 offers a synthesis of the way in which the history of the traditional neighborhoods of Buenos Aires is compiled using oral history. Also, an "Echoes of the 70’s" section is inaugurated, in which articles about the 60’s and 70’s are published.
Oral History Association of Australia Journal, No 20, 1998
This issue of the journal includes papers from the biennial OHAA Conference held in Alice Springs in 1997. It also includes a comprehensive index to all issues of the Journal - from No. 1, 1979 to No. 20, 1998. Table of Contents: Articles: "Crossing Borders: keynote address delivered at the biennial conference", Pat Mamanyjun Torres; "Crossing Borders: keynote address delivered at the biennial conference", Bill Gammage; "Before the Tape Recorder: Colonial attitudes towards Indigenous oral cultures", Greg Gardiner; ‘It’s all about respect’: the etiquette of recording Indigenous oral history, Anna Shnukal; "A Weighty Responsibility: reflections on the practice of oral history", Helen Penrose; "Edward Koiki Mabo: revealing the Man behind the Native Title Claim", Noel Loos; "Oral History, Native Title and Hindmarsh Island", Steve Hemming"; "On the Edge and In Between: the experience of an Asian-Australian historian", Christine Choo; "Don’t Cry Michele!", Wendy Lowenstein; "Mapping Memories and Talking Banners in Pine Creek: a community cultural development project incorporating oral history and banner making", Jane Bathgate and Joanna Barrkman; "The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia: the nurses’ story", Jill Barclay. (Oral History Program, State Library of New South Wales, Macquarie Street, Sydney, NSW 2000. Australia).
Healthways: Newfoundland Elders - Their Lifestyles and Values
In this new book, edited by RR Anderson, JK Crellin and B O’Dwyer, elders narrate life stories about health and illness, and about care and treatment. Each story is printed verbatim, 'with silent editing to smooth reading. The book is evidence of the valuable cross-fertilisation between oral history, reminiscence work and health care which has taken place in several countries in recent years. It was published in 1998 by Creative Book Publishing, PO Box 8660, St Johns, Newfoundland, A1B 3T7, Canada, fax 709 7222228, and is distributed by General Distribution Services.
Face to Face
Approaching the XIth Oral History Congress in in Istambul
The local organization has sent the call for papers to IOHA members, to the participants of the Vth Brazil meeting, and to a group of members from the European Science Foundation - social scientists who may be interested in this project. Calls for papers have also gone out to local organizations, NGOs and universities, encouraging them to volunteer for panels on the issues of ethnic conflict, women’s history, local history and human rights. Local participation is expected to be high, as both journalists and documentary film makers are eager to explore the newly developing field of oral history in Turkey.
IVth National Encounter on Oral history, in Buenos Aires
The IVth National Encounter on Oral History will be held from the 25th to the 27th of August, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Those wishing to give presentations should send in a one-page abstract by the 1st of April, 1999. The deadline for the handing of those projects which are accepted is July 1st. All correspondence should be addressed to: PROGRAMA DE HISTORIA ORAL, Instituto de Historia Argentina y Americana "Dr. Emilio Ravignani", Facultad de Filosofía y Letras Universidad de Buenos Aires, 25 de mayo 217, 2º piso, 1002 Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Biennial conference of the Oral History Association of Australia
As we approach the end of the 20th century, this conference entitled "Tales of the Century", to be held in Melbourne, Australia, from the 2nd to the 5th of September 1999, offers an opportunity to reflect on the historical events which have shaped our present world, and the ways they are remembered and recounted. During this Conference, the 21st anniversary of the formation of the Oral History Association of Australia (Victoria Branch) will also be celebrated. Visit the conference website: http://avoca.vicnet.net.au/~oralhist/.
Landscapes of memory: oral history and the environment: Oral History Society Annual Conference, with Centre for Continuing Education, University of Brighton, Sussex, 15-16 May, 1999, Brighton, England. How we use the places and spaces we occupy through life and within memory will be the main focus of a conference which has attracted interest from around the world. The conference themes -Place, Protest, Lifestyles, Dislocation, Heritage and Development- promise stimulating and provocative discussion. For further details, contact: Conference Officer, Landscapes of Memory Conference, Centre for Continuing Education, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9RG, phone 01273-678926, email a.s.thomson@sussex.ac.uk
Te whare korero - uses of oral history.
Conference organised by the National Oral History Association of New Zealand and the School of Maori Studies/Te Putahi-a-Toi, Massey University, 5-6 June, 1999, Palmerston North, New Zealand. A focus of the conference will be the ways in which oral histories are used once the interviews have been recorded. The organisers welcome the participation of everyone who shares an interest in oral history. We encourage contributions from:- those engaged in recording community, family, whanau, hapu and iwi history; those working with oral histories in museums, archives and libraries. Ka mate kainga tahi;Ka ora kainga rua. Enquiries to: Megan Hutching, NOHANZ, P O Box 3819, WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND, Megan.Hutching@dia.govt.nz, tel: + 64 4 494 0631 or Monty Soutar, Te Putahi-a-Toi, Massey University, Private Bag 11-222, PALMERSTON NORTH, NEW ZEALAND, m.g.soutar@massey.ac.nz, tel: +64 6 356 9099 ext 8640.
Cinderella services: exploring issues of nursing history.
A two-day conference organised by the Faculty of Health, 15-16 April, 1999, South Bank University, London. The conference includes plenary sessions, workshops, exhibitions and stands on Elderly Care Nursing, Historiography, Learning Disabilities, Mental Health Nursing, Poor Law Nursing, Community Nursing. Abstract forms are available from Antoinette Dixon, Conference Office, South Bank University, 103 Borough Road, London SE1 0AA. tel +44 (0)171 815 6908; fax +44(0)171 815 6999;email: dixon@sbu.ac.uk
"Re-presentations of women: the historical literary and visual imagery of women" is the title of the 8th National Conference of the Women's History Network, to be held on the 11th and 12th of September 1999, at Staffordshire University. Offers of papers, sent as titles with a 200 word abstract, should be sent by 4th April 1999 to Shirley Good, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Staffordshire University, College Road, Stoke-on-Trent, England. tel 01782 294806, email artpe@staffs.ac.uk
Tradition and transition: ageing into the third millennium
The Annual Conference of the British Society of Gerontology, Universities of Bournemouth and Southampton, will take place in Bournemouth from the 17th-19th of September, 1999, and will include an oral history symposium and stand, as part of a programme which inlcudes, amongst its special themes, mental health, culture, spirituality, trauma and lifelong learning. Proposals to: Joanna Bornat, School of Health and Social Welfare, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, email: j.bornat@open.ac.uk
The theme of the national meeting of the Oral History Association (USA) –to be held from the 7th to the 10th of October in Anchorage, Alaska- is. "Giving Voice: Oral Historians and the Shaping of Narrative". Possible topics include, but are in no way limited to: oral histories with indigenous peoples, anthropological research, cultural contact between diverse peoples, relationships in interviewing, interdisciplinary approaches, transnational (and especially Pacific Rim and Polar) issues. For further information, contact: Susan Armitage Editor, Frontiers, Women's Studies Program, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164-4007, (509) 335-8569. e-mail: (queries only, no proposals) armitage@wsu.edu
Put it in Writing
The oral history of Latin American exile
"Mexico, a shelter for democracy: A history of Latin American exile" is the name of the research project coordinated by Eugenia Meyer of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and Pablo Yankelevich of Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). Starting in early 1997, with financial support from Mexico’s National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT), a working group was set up with the aim of rescuing the testimony of men and women from Latin America who, half-way through the Seventies, arrived in Mexico fleeing from the political persecution unleashed by dictatorial regimes. Oral history interviews take us inside the memories of the victims of this exile, in order to rescue a goodly chunk of the experiences arising from a situation of uprootedness, which resulted from the loss of the points of reference constituted by the exiles’ day-to-day life hitherto. The sources being built up contain valuable information with which to begin a historical reconstruction of the "experience of exile" –i.e. of the objective and subjective experiences (the former in the sense of affective and material losses, and the latter in the sense of how this loss took shape in the mind and what feelings it engendered), within the framework of a particular context – Mexico. In the near future, these materials will make up the Oral Archive on Latin American Exile, to be housed in the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, UNAM.
Greetings from the History Institute of the City of Buenos Aires
We were very pleased to receive the Bulletin, and feel it is a very good idea to have this organ available as a linking device and a tool for pursuing knowledge. Our activities go far back, and we have always been involved, one way or another, in oral history, or with orality as it refers to ways of interpreting written documentation (sources), or of creating said documentation when it is lacking, through the documented history of participants who have not made their way into the annals of history. (Liliana Barela de Balbi, Director of the History Institute of the City of Buenos Aires).
Collective Memory and Repression
The Social Science Research Council of New York is developing a training and research program pertaining to Collective Memory and Repression: Comparative Perspectives on the Process of Democratisation in the South Cone of Latin America. This program receives financing from the Ford Foundation. It aims at enriching a field of knowledge which is attracting growing interest. Well-known researchers will be invited to explore opportunities to study collective memory.At the same time, a group of young researchers from various South Cone insitutions, along with students on doctoral programs in the United States, will receive scholarships so that they can take part in the training and research program in this field. The academic coordinator of the Program is Elizabeth Jelin (University of Buenos Aires and CONICET). For more details: hershber@ssrc.org or ejelin@mail.retina.ar
The Autumn 1998 section of News From Abroad described the ‘Bringing Them Home’ report, which was tabled in the Australian Parliament in May 1997, and which deals with the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children –the 'stolen generation'– from their families. The full-scale project will run over a further four years and will involve between three and four hundred interviews. The National Library has begun circulating information about the management of the project, its objectives and principles and its advisory group, for comment. More details at www.nla.gov.au/oh/bth or by contacting Anne-Marie Schwirtlich, National Library of Australia, Parkes Place, Parkes, ACT 2600, Australia, email aschwirt@nla.gov.au'.
Edited by: Eugenia Meyer and Eva Salgado, Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). In charge of printing and distribution: Mercedes Vilanova, Montserrat Condomines and Lluis Ubeda. Printed by: HAFO, Barcelona, Spain. Print run: 150 copies. (Contributions and suggestions: hel@servidor.unam.mx and ahcbhafo@trivium.gh.ub.es)