HIST 420: Voices of Protest

The Colorado State University-Pueblo's University Archives and Special Collections (UASC) is a part of the University Library System. Its mission is:

• To collect, preserve and make accessible materials that document all aspects of the University community.
• To collect, preserve and make accessible materials that document local and regional history, particularly materials related to historically underrepresented groups.
• To assist the University community with successful record management.

Questions?  Contact:

Beverly Allen
University Archivist/Records Manager
(719) 549-2475
beverly.allen@csupueblo.edu

Chicano Veterans Oral History Project

Pre-Interview

1. Dr. Montoya/Archivist will contact potential interviewees and discuss the following: possible questions/topics, reasons for conducting the interview, the process that will be involved, and the need for informed consent and legal release forms
2. Interviewers will prepare to ask informed questions, by conducting background research on the person, topic, and larger context in secondary sources
3. Interviewers should prepare an outline of interview topics and questions to use as a guide to the recorded dialogue. Some sample questions are on the History 420 research guide.

Interview

1. The interview should be conducted in a quiet room with minimal background noises and possible distractions.  Interviews will be conducted here on campus – in either the Provost’s or President’s Conference Room.
2. The interviewer should record a “lead” at the beginning of each session to help focus his or her and the narrator’s thoughts to each session’s goals. The “lead” should consist of, at least, the names of narrator and interviewer, day and year of session, interview’s location, and proposed subject of the recording.  Use the “Oral History Introduction Statement” in the History 420 research guide for the CSU-Pueblo Archives format.
3. Both parties should agree to the approximate length of the interview in advance. The interviewer is responsible for assessing whether the narrator is becoming tired and at that point should ask if the latter wishes to continue.
4. Along with asking creative and probing questions and listening to the answers to ask better follow-up questions, the interviewer should keep the following items in mind:
   • interviewers should take notes on proper spelling of names and places during the interview
   • interviewers must respect the rights of interviewees to refuse to discuss certain subjects, to restrict access to the interview, or, under certain circumstances, to choose anonymity. If such requests for restrictions come up during the interview, they should be relayed to the archivist for negotiation with the interviewee
   • in recognition of the importance of oral history to an understanding of the past and of the cost and effort involved, interviewers and interviewees should mutually strive to record candid information of lasting value.  
5. The interviewer must have the narrator sign a release form, by which the narrator transfers his or her rights to the interview to CSU-Pueblo (See “Oral History Release Form” in the History 420 research guide), signed after each recording session or at the end of the last interview with the narrator.

Post Interview

1. Interviewers should document their preparation and methods, including the circumstances of the interviews and provide that information to whatever repository will be preserving and providing access to the interview, in this case – CSU-Pueblo.  Use the “Oral History Information Sheet” (available in the History 420 research guide) for this purpose – this is a form to be filled out by the interviewers immediately after the interview, recording name of narrator, address, date of interview, location, file names, etc.
2. Information deemed relevant for the interpretation of the oral history by future users, such as photographs, documents, or other records should be collected if offered and transferred to the archives with the interview
3. The recordings of the interviews will be stored, processed, refreshed and accessed according to established archival standards designated for the media format used. Whenever possible, all efforts should be made to preserve electronic files in formats that are cross platform and nonproprietary.

The following are forms used by the CSU-Pueblo University Archives and Special Collections Department.