Story Title
Holmes County, Florida
historywithinreach
HOLMES COUNTY
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
"STORY SQUAD"
Holmes County Oral History Project
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This project will work to collect, preserve and share the stories of everyday life in Holmes County as told by the people who lived them. The project will focus on collecting a minimum of 35 stories. Once the stories are collected, part of each interview will be transcribed and both audio and written versions will be deposited with the Holmes County Archives. Stories will also be featured on the Holmes Historical Society website and copies of the transcriptions will be made available to the Holmes County Library System.
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We are seeking volunteers to help conduct the interviews and interviewees who are willing to share their memories. If you are interested in being interviewed, we will organize a date, time and location that are convenient for you to meet. Our preference will be to meet at the museum or library, although in some instances we will make arrangements to meet you in your home, if you prefer. Before we begin the interview, we will ask you to sign a waiver stating that you agree to take part in a recorded interview.
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What is Oral History?
Oral history is the collection of testimony from people about their own lived experiences. While there are many different ways of working to collect and preserve local history, oral history is an especially effective means. Some of the benefits of oral history include: learning about unique perspectives, asking specific questions, learning different information than would be available in the public record, and the opportunity for people to tell their stories in their own words. Most importantly, oral history interviews provide a rich opportunity for human interaction between the interviewer(s) and interviewee.
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What are the potential benefits of these interviews?
Participants will benefit from the opportunity to discuss their memories of life in Holmes County in previous decades. Future researchers interested in the history of everyday life in Holmes County will benefit from the transcripts of these interviews, which will be available to enhance their research. Society at large will benefit from this project as the information available from the oral history interviews will enhance their understanding of Holmes County’s history and may offer a new perspective on the past.
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If you have any questions, please send us an email at holmescountyhistory@yahoo.com