T ELLING THE S TORIES OF R EMARKABLE S MITH W OMEN ORAL HISTORY PROJECT―SMITH COLLEGE CLUB OF MINNESOTA.

O R A L H I S T O R Y P R O J E C T ― S M I T H C O L L E G E C L U B O F M IN N E S O T A

TELLING THE STORIES OF

REMARKABLE SMITH WOMEN

THE CONCEPT

Betsey Whitbeck ’71

PHASE 1: PLANNINGLaurie Kramer ’69

PHASE 2: THE INTERVIEWSBarbara Klaas ’74

PHASE 3: PRODUCTIONMarty Swain ’71

THE LAUNCH!Laurie Kramer

YOUR PRESENTERS

O R A L H I S T O R Y P R O J E C T ― S M I T H C O L L E G E C L U B O F M I N N E S O T A


Betsey Whitbeck

FIRST: THE CONCEPT

“I respect the fact that on this campus we like stout ideas and convictions of every conceivable sort, old and new, traditional and modern, and are not afraid of them; that the one thing we are afraid of is apathy and indifference toward learning and toward life.”

“And if in June of every year 400 girls leave Northampton with an awakened sense of personal responsibility and an honest desire to make the towns and cities in which they will live and work more decent, intelligent, unprejudiced and far-sighted, more rich in things of the mind, it seems to me, in the light of American democratic ideas, that Smith College has fulfilled its promises and done its work well.”

Mary Ellen Chase (1887-1973)Smith College Professor of English 1926-55From Smith College: A Definition



1. Where the Idea Stemmed From

2. Choice of Interviewees

3. Our Theme: Strong Women Building Strong Communities

4. Our Expectations

5. Programmatic Development

THE CONCEPT


1. Where the Idea Stemmed From:

Observations• A substantial number of

important Minnesota settlers sent their daughters to Smith

• Let’s collect these settlers’ stories while their granddaughters & great-granddaughters were still alive


Theory• Because Minnesota’s state culture was

largely developed by these early Smith grads, the leadership values of Smith College influenced the outcome of Minnesota state culture


Personal Goals• My interest in writing in general• My study of Minnesota state

history for the Sesquicentennial


Other Goals

Ultimate Goal• Celebrate our influential women and their

lives

Club’s Organizational Goals• Activate younger alums!• Recognize older alums and keep them

active!

The By-product• Provide a base of information that might be

useful to the College, the State, and the Club


2. Choice of Interviewees• Age• Connection to historical figures in

development of Minnesota• Personal contributions to Minnesota

culture through leadership and activities


3. Our Theme: STRONG WOMEN BUILDING STRONG COMMUNITIES

Chosen because it encompassed ALL our goals

• It celebrated leadership in the largest sense• It focused on families and their Smith

daughters• It exemplified Smith as more than the “average

excellent college”• It showed Smith as a leadership-training

organization & a catalyst to change



4. Our Expectations• We hoped the answers to several questions

would help demonstrate this leadership theoryo Which professors and which courses were these important women

most influenced by and why?

o How did young women of their day identify Smith as the educational institution they wanted to attend?

o What was life like when they were at Smith? How do their memories help us understand how Smith has since changed?

o How did the ideas and teachings at Smith engender a change in young women’s views on life and the world?

o And just for fun – we wanted to find some fun anecdotes about Smith life!


5. Programmatic Development• Created and finalized questionnaire • Created standard operating procedure

for interviews• Created directions for writing up

interviews


PHASE 1: PLANNINGLaurie Kramer

PLANNING

1. Generate Club Interest

2. Convene Steering Committee

3. Decide Scope of Project

4. Consult Oral History Experts

5. Choose Recording Equipment

6. Recruit Interviewees

7. Recruit Volunteers

8. Train Interviewers



1. Generate Club Interest

• Brainstorming meetings

• Use Club publicity vehicles

• Involve Smith faculty


2. Convene Steering Committee • Need 4 or 5 people

• Oversee main activity areas

o Interviewees

o Interviewers

o Equipment

o Photos

o Transcription

o Writing and editing

o Design

• Keep project moving• Plan launch


3. Decide Scope of Project

• How many alums to interview

• Form of final product

• Target date for final product

• All volunteer versus paid position(s)


4. Consult Oral History Experts

• Local Smith alums• Local or state historical

society• Smith College experts


5. Choose Recording Equipment

• High quality• Easy to use• Decide between audio and

video


6. Recruit Interviewees • Develop criteria• Contact to ascertain interest• Confirm in writing


7. Recruit Volunteers • Interviewers• Tape transcriber• Writers • Managing editor• Editors• Photo editor • Designer


8. Train Interviewers• One or two in-person sessions• Record for future use


PHASE 2: THE INTERVIEWBarbara Klaas


1. Training

2. Equipment

3. Pre-Interview

4. Interview Goals

5. The Interview Itself

6. Post-Interview

7. Preparing Finished History

THE INTERVIEW


1. Training• Creates understanding of

project’s goals• Provides consistency • Helps interviewers understand

what oral history is• Emphasizes the legal and ethical

aspects of oral histories


2. Equipment• Audio/Digital recorder with good

microphone• Tripod if videotaping: careful of

background and frame interviewee• Extension cord


3. Pre-Interview• Set up interview time and place• Send interviewee questions ahead of time• Ask for interviewee to find photos and make

copies to give you at interview• Arrange for recording equipment and space• Test equipment to make sure working

properly• Review questions


4. Interview Goals

• Make it a conversation• Realize this is the interviewee’s story• Use the questions as a roadmap, but don’t

be afraid to take detours• Best quality of an interviewer is to listen • Use follow-up questions• Don’t interject yourself in the interview

with comments or body language


5. Interview Guidelines• Use same questions for each interview,

realizing that the time spent on questions will vary by interviewee

• Take a break• Most interviews should not last more

than 2 hours • DO follow up on interesting

information with more questions

Interview QuestionsFamily background

1. From a family history perspective, why did yours come to Minnesota and what did they do here?

2. As you look back on growing up in your family, which are the most significant values you learned – and how did you learn them?

Smith decision

3. What do you think made Smith College such a popular place for so many Minnesota families to send their daughters?

4. Do you recall what prompted you to decide to attend Smith College?

Smith experiences

5. Did you have advisers or mentors who shaped part of your experience at Smith (faculty, house mother, another student)? Did you come away with any lifelong friends who played an important role in your later life experience?

6. What was your major or minor, and did this specific area of your education have a significant impact on what you did later in life?

7. What do you suppose are the most significant values, memories or lessons – positive or negative – you carry with you from Smith?

Community activities

8. What sorts of organizations/movements have you been involved in on a leadership level or as an active volunteer?

9. What prompted you to be active in these organizations?

10. What would you say are the major accomplishments of these organizations?

Continued on next slide . . .


…Interview Questions, continued

Your own accomplishments

11. In what ways might you have played a role, large or small, in the development of MN’s communities and their cultures and organizations?

12. What accomplishments/successes/contributions that you’ve made outside the realm of your immediate family make you most proud?

13. How does this role reflect family and Smith influences and values?

Your life’s evolution

14. What is the most exciting moment of your life? Are there others?

15. Was there some sort of turning point in your life that you could share with us? What role did that turning point play in changing your life’s course?

16. What do you see as the most significant moment/issue in history that affected you and/or your family?

The future

17. What steps do you think we as Minnesotans need to take to “secure” our future?

18. As you look back at values learned from your family and from Smith, how do you hope your own family and/or the community will continue to reflect those values?

19. If you had one piece of advice to give young Smith grads, what would it be? Similarly, what single warning about something to avoid would you give to recent grads?

Post-Smith involvement

20. Since your years at Smith, have you continued your direct involvement with the College? If so, how have you been involved – for instance, through service on the Board of Trustees, the Board of the Alumnae Association, or a special committee?

21. What has been your involvement with the Minnesota Smith Club?

Wrap-up

22. Is there anything else you’d like to say?


6. Post-Interview• Get formal Usage Agreement Form

signed• Obtain photos• Make sure all tapes are labeled• Transcribe the tape• Write up the interview


SMITH COLLEGE CLUB OF MINNESOTA

ORAL HISTORY AGREEMENT FORM

My signature below confirms my agreement with the Smith College Club of Minnesota (the Club) to participate in an audio-recorded interview with one or more Smith alumnae who will be asking me questions of interest to Club members.

I convey to the Club the content of this interview and permission for its use as part of the Oral History Project. I also give the Club permission to use any photos I provide.

I agree that the Club may release a copy of the interview tape and transcript to the Smith College Archives.

I convey copyright to this interview to the Smith College Archives and the Smith College Club of Minnesota.

Interviewee _______________________________________Date_____________

Signature

__________________________________________________________

Print name

___________________________________________________________

Street Address City/State Zip

Interviewer _______________________________________ Date _____________

Signature

Accepted by _______________________________________

Signature

_______________________________________ Date _____________

Title


7. Preparing the Write-up• Remember: The tape becomes a copyrightable

document• Find themes that run through the person’s life• Start with an attention-getting statement, quote, or

story• Set the scene: Describe the venue• Look for fun quotes and note dramatic events • Make descriptive observations• Ask yourself what is significant about things said• Provide meaningful interpretation from facts • BE ACCURATE!• Check the tape, with the other interviewer, or with

the interviewee about any questions


PHASE 3: PRODUCTION Marty Swain


1. Style Sheet

2. Production Process

3. Editing

4. Review

5. Approval

6. Design (depending on final product)

7. Printing/Binding (ditto)

PRODUCTION NEEDS


1. Style Sheet• It provides standardization, for

example…

o Final comma in series

o Capitalization

o Rules for numerals

o References to other alums, schools, interviewees


Style SheetFonts & Spacing

• Title: Heading 1 style, 16 pt bf Arial• Interviewee’s name: Heading 2 style, 14 pt bf Times Roman• Interviewer's byline: Heading 3 style, 12 pt bf ital Arial• All headers flush left• Body text: Normal style, 12 pt Times Roman• Double spaced text, first line of paragraph indented• 1 space between words• 1 space between sentences

Abbreviations, Capitalization & Spelling• After giving interviewee's, classmates' and family members' whole name at first mention, use first name• After giving professors', business associates' and everyone else's whole name at first mention, use LAST name• Titles (eg, executive director): don’t cap unless precede name• OK to use cap on nickname for proper name or organization after first mention• Capitalize "Smithie"• v. in judicial rulings• Use numerals in text only if greater than 9, used with time (6 days), or in a range (2 of 5 children)

Punctuation• em dashes: no space before or after, like this—key it with Shift/Option/Hyphen• en dashes: use for ranges (times or dates such as 1–5) with no space before or after; key it with Option/Hyphen• also use en dash in the phrase "Minneapolis–St. Paul area"• Hyphenate phrases such as "eleven-year-old child" • Ellipses … use spaces before and after • Make apostrophes and quotation marks curly/smart• No apostrophes in plural dates (1990s)• Use serial comma in series

Tone & Style• Interviewers should not be mentioned within text (such as first person references "she told me")• Try to minimize repetition of "she said"• OK to take some liberties and limit ellipses in direct quotes from transcripts for smoother reading ellipses in direct quotes from transcripts

for smoother reading


2. Production Process• Develop a process that every interview

write-up goes through• Develop (and update!) a production log• Edit write-up• Submit to other reviewer(s) (how many

proofs?)• Send to layout• Critique and proof layouts• Check revised proofs• Send to printer (with designer’s help)

Rec'd

Inter-viewers

To Editor From Editor

To BW From BW

To LK From LK

To Subj

From Subj (lk )

To Layout

Comments

Congdon Mason

wh/kl 3/21/12 ms

— 3/26/12

3/26/12

3/25/12 3/25/12

3/26/12

Sent overnight mail

Cowie leh/lep 9/14/11 nik

10/10/11

1/16/12

— 1/16/12 1/16/12

1/28/12

2/9/12 3/12/12 No further Qs—ck classmate pic caption

Donnelly leh/pf 1/12/12 nik

2/14/11 2/20/12

2/20/12 2/25/12

3/1/12

3/9/12 3/13/12 Final Qs answered 3/19 phone

Grose kl/bh 2/5/12 ms — 2/19/12

2/19/12 2/20/12

3/1/12

3/13/12

3/14/12 In CA till Mar 9; captions OK

Hartfiel sh/fr 10/20/11 nik

11/13/11

1/17/12

— 1/17/12 1/22/12

1/28/12

2/9/12 3/12/12 Qs sent 3/27

Hensel leh/pf 1/15/12 nik

2/22/12 3/7/12 3/7/12 3/7/12 3/7/12 3/8/12

3/13/12

3/14/12 Captions OK

Ide hag/kl 6/17/11 nik

7/8/11 9/xx 9/23/11

1/12/12 1/12/12

1/28/12

2/9/12 3/12/12 Caption Qs

Leppik bl/brn 9/24/11 ms

— 2/2/12 2/17/12

2/02/12 2/8/12 2/18/12

3/1/12 3/13/12 Qs sent 3/27

Malmon lep/gld 3/3/12 ms 3/5/12 — 3/5/12 3/5/12 3/7/12

3/16/12

3/19/12 Sent to AZ; 1 caption Q sent 3/26

Ross dwd/cro

9/x/11 ms — 2/13/12

2/17/12

2/13/12 2/15/12

2/18/12

3/7/12 3/16/12

Caption Qs sent 3/27

Rothchild bh/mik 2/22/12 nik

3/3/12 3/12/12

3/12/12 3/12/12

3/13/12

3/17/12

3/19/12 No usable transcript; sent photo Q 3/26

Slade lid/mik 11/17/12 nik

12/17/12

1/16/12

— 1/16/12 1/16/12

1/28/12

2/11/12

3/13/12 Sent e-mail last Qs 3/26

Spencer kl/wr 10/20/11 nik

11/2/11 1/17/12

— 1/17/12 1/22/12

1/28/12

2/09/12

3/12/12 Captions OK

Taylor kl/sw 3/20/12 bk/lk

— — — 3/21/12 3/21/12

3/24/12

Caption Qs

Toth bl/brk 2/05/12 ms

— 3/1/12 3/03/12

3/2/12 3/03/12

3/5/12

3/14/12

3/16/12

Sent to CA; Caption Qs sent 3/27

Tuttle dwd/kr 9/14/11 nik

10/10/11

2/14/12

2/17/12

2/14/12 2/15/12

2/18/12

3/19/12

3/20/12 Talked 3/10/12; captions OK

Intro materials

—


3. Editing• Reorganize as necessary • Fact check• Rewrite/edit as necessary for grammar,

syntax, style• Evaluate length• Add detail from transcript if necessary• Standardize format for reviewers,

interviewees, and designer• Write pull quotes & photo captions


4. Review• Make a clean copy incorporating

all the edits you’ve decided on• Have a second (even a third)

person read the manuscript• Negotiate and make changes


5. Approval• Prepare a clean copy of manuscript for

interviewee• Insert hand-written or electronic Qs and

comments• Include a place for interviewee to sign off• Get phone number & e-mail of interviewee for

follow-up questions• Ask any remaining questions• Include photo captions for approval• Include a self-addressed, stamped envelope,

and state a deadline

SAMPLE OF APPROVED MANUSCRIPT


6. Design• Send manuscripts & photos to designer one-by-one

or in group(s)• Check preliminary layouts when they’re back• Proofread• Add and lose lines as necessary, fix loose

lines/widows (with the designer)• Write or delete pull quotes as necessary• Have a second person proof• Go back to interviewee with any final Qs• Submit changes to designer • Check revised proofs and sign (or do another round

if needed)


7. Print• Go over final page proofs with designer• Sign off• Consult with printer as needed• Do a press proof if requested• Make sure printed materials have gone

to binder on schedule • Look forward to receiving the books!


THE LAUNCHLaurie Kramer


• Decide on stand-alone event vs piggybacking on another event

• Decide how to show off the final product• Develop sales materials and process• Involve the College• Reach out to and recognize all

participants• Record the launch if possible• See a video from our Book 1 launch at

http://youtu.be/_pnDC-LAFO8

LAUNCH



T ELLING THE S TORIES OF R EMARKABLE S MITH W OMEN ORAL HISTORY PROJECT―SMITH COLLEGE CLUB OF MINNESOTA.

Documents

minnesota culture

average excellent college

c oncept slide

smith daughters

exemplified smith

p hase

early smith grads

t elling