Describes the author's use of advocacy oral history in interviews of people devoted to Montana's wilderness preservation. Discusses the use of questions to elicit broad humanistic responses as opposed to striking journalistic quotations. Examines the differences between traditional and advocacy oral history and the benefits of the latter. (GEA)

This document addresses the importance of teaching contemporary history. The failure to teach contemporary history leaves students ill equipped to deal with the present and the future, and also ensures that they will have little interest in the history of other times. Because memory is the central organizing principle in peoples minds, the…

This collection of essays about the Presidential wives of the 20th century through Nancy Reagan. An exploration of the records of first ladies will elicit diverse insights about the historical impact of these women in their times. Interpretive theories that explain modern first ladies are still tentative and exploratory. The contention in the…

This digest addresses the uses of oral history projects in the secondary U.S. history classroom. The document advocates that oral history is a stimulating classroom process designed to increase student involvement in a United States history class and improve student understanding of a relatively recent historical period. Oral history also involves…

Defines oral history as the act of talking to another person about the past. By obtaining the common man's view, a more complete interpretation of the past results. Outlines an oral history unit on the depression. Activities include tape recorded interviews and use of letters, pictures, diaries, newspapers, films, music, and books. (KC)

This paper discusses the process of ethnographic research and some reasons it might not go as smoothly as researchers or funders have planned. The paper's orientation is from that of a folklorist, but some of the cautionary matter may apply as well to oral historians and others involved in multicultural projects. The research was to conduct 15-20…

"Muncie Remembers That Day in Dallas" is an oral history project report of a study conducted by two academic U.S. history classes of 21 students at Muncie Southside High School (Indiana) during the 1993-94 school year. The occasion of the 30th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy, along with the movie "JFK,"…

Describes a year-long elective film course in modern U.S. history for twelfth grade students. Explains course methodology and objectives. Analyzes selected films to illustrate how the course elucidates the consensus-conflict theme in U.S. history since the 1930s and enhances student understanding of Hollywood's perspective on gender, race, and…

This unit is a collection of lessons for teaching about cultural clashes. Based on primary sources, the unit contains teacher background materials and three lesson plans with student resources. These lessons deal with the United States between World War I and World War II. The United States emerged from World War I with seismic faults in its…

Outlines major oral history collections related to media studies and considers how the use of those collections has encouraged traditional conceptions of the social function of the press. Suggests how oral histories can be used to address issues of power and domination in the development of media institutions. (MJP)

This sourcebook for teaching about women in U.S. history classes is arranged in seven chapters. Each chapter contains background information and a selection of primary source writings by both men and women. Attention is directed toward the activities and status of both white and minority women in all periods. Chapter I, "Women of the Colonial…