2024 Oral History Association Annual Meeting

Transcriptions, Translations, and Representation: Oral Histories in a Second Language among Return Refugees 
Mary Patrice Erdmans, Case Western Reserve University

This presentation draws from my current oral history project on return refugees, specifically, members of the Solidarity movement in Poland who became political refugees after martial law in 1981 and returned to Poland after the collapse of communism in 1989. In this paper, I address three methodological tensions regarding transcription, translation, and representation. Most of the oral histories (35 of 40) were collected in English. All of the English-speaking respondents had been refugees in English-speaking countries (median of 20 years abroad) and have some proficiency in English. Language issues, however, complicated oral history practices. Initially I transcribed verbatim but as I began coding and working with the transcripts, I questioned the utility of verbatim transcripts, and stopped transcribing verbatim. A second issue related to translation. For interviews conducted in Polish, sometimes the translator did not translate fully. I know enough Polish that I was able to translate some of the interview while transcribing. Should I then include the translator’s translation in the transcription along with my own? I did. But then, whose words should I use in published texts? A final issue is how to represent their oral histories, in their own words, when I publish books and articles. For some, especially those less proficient in English, my inclination is to tell their story for them, and yet I specifically use this methodology because it allows people to speak for themselves. I want the orality. This tension is centered in debates around the politics of representation. Do I correct minor grammar errors? I find myself making corrections for these reasons: it more fairly represents class and educational location; the speaker wants their mistakes corrected; and it helps readers read the text. I am interested in what the audience and panel think about these issues.
Bringing Oral History to the Spanish Classroom: The Development of the "Voces de la Diáspora" Project at Princeton University
Alberto Bruzos Moro, Princeton University

This presentation outlines the development of "Voces de la Diáspora," an oral history project dedicated to collecting, sharing, and preserving the narratives of the Spanish-speaking community in Princeton, New Jersey. This initiative is a collaborative effort between "Voices of Princeton," an oral history endeavor jointly sponsored by the Princeton Public Library and the Historical Society of Princeton, and Princeton University's Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Department of History, and Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship (ProCES).Seeking to address a significant gap in the historical record, the project aims to capture the diverse experiences of Spanish speakers in Princeton (New Jersey), a community often overlooked despite comprising approximately 5-6% of the town's population since the 1990s. This oversight stems from various factors including linguistic barriers, immigrant status, racial and cultural disparities, and socioeconomic differences. Notably, Latinos are prominently represented in low-paid occupations such as childcare, landscaping, janitorial services, and food service within both the town and Princeton University. Furthermore, the project entails the creation of a curriculum comprising Spanish and History courses designed to equip students with the necessary skills for conducting oral history research. The presentation will delve into the complexities encountered in establishing a collaborative project between the Departments of Spanish and History, as well as navigating the intricate partnership model involving university and public stakeholders. Key questions to be addressed include strategies for bridging the divide between an Ivy League institution and a predominantly immigrant, working-class community; methods for conducting background research when traditional sources are limited; approaches for preparing students to conduct interviews in a second language; and adherence to ethical principles and guidelines inherent in oral history research within this unique context.Oral Histories for Linguistic Justice in Health Care: Pandemic Stories from Kansas Latine and Mayan Communities
Rachel Showstack, Wichita State University
Michelle Enke, Wichita Public Library

Building on an oral history project at the Wichita, Kansas Public Library, the community-based health equity initiative Alce su Voz at Wichita State University is conducting COVID story interviews with Kansas residents in Spanish and Mayan languages. Our aspiration is to depict the history of our communities during a pandemic so that our state can be more prepared to make sure that all Kansans receive equitable care, resources, and safety information during the next public health emergency.

In 2018, Librarian and Archivist Michelle Enke attempted to create an exhibit on the 1918 flu pandemic and how it affected the city of Wichita, Kansas, but she was unable to locate any sources besides the newspapers and some governmental reports. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Enke knew that it was important to record the personal histories of individuals who were living through it, and she conducted and publicly archived 45 English-language oral history interviews with Wichita residents, offering them an opportunity to tell stories about their experiences related to COVID-19. While the interviewees were carefully selected to represent a broad demographic, Enke noted that there was a part of the story that was missing from the collection: the pandemic stories of individuals who experience difficulties communicating in English. During the pandemic, Latine and Mayan communities in Kansas experienced high infection rates and were initially very likely to report vaccine hesitancy, due to factors including inadequate information dissemination, distrust of medical practitioners motivated by historical abuses, and incongruence between community health practices and the dominant biomedical perspective. Furthermore, social distancing protocols led to challenges for the use of in-person interpreters, and noisy ventilators and masks hindered communication using remote interpreting services. Despite these obstacles, Latine and Mayan Kansans demonstrated considerable resilience; individuals and organizations collaborated to develop information campaigns on social media, advocated for vaccines for meatpacking workers, and disseminated resources.This year, Alce su Voz at Wichita State University is conducting COVID story interviews with Kansas residents in Spanish and Mayan languages. With the two sets of interviews, our aspiration is to depict the history of our communities during a pandemic so that our state can be more prepared to make sure that all Kansans receive equitable care, resources, and safety information during the next public health emergency.