In my previous post, I presented five reasons to record and use oral history. Here are the next five reasons. Oral history is an excellent way to: 6. Learn about old processes The way we do many, if not most, Read More …
There are many excellent reasons to record and use oral history interviews. Here are the first five of the fifteen reasons why I have found oral history to be useful and important. They are not in any particular order. Oral Read More …
Country dances have been a major source of entertainment for decades, as described in my previous post, but what types of dances were popular last century, and who provided the dance music? In an oral history interview, Harry Portlock talked Read More …
Dances were popular entertainment in cities and country towns through much of the twentieth century. Often the dances served as fund-raisers for local community groups, or during World War II, for the Fighting Forces Comfort Fund and the Red Cross. Read More …
Describing the Meadows oval as a sports oval in the early- to mid-1900s is probably being overly generous. In common with ovals in other small towns, it had its shortcomings. Harry Portlock recalled that in the 1940s: The oval was Read More …
The Meadows poultry settlement was established in May 1934, as I described in a previous post. Twenty-four families with a total of 130 children moved in. At this time, the population of Meadows was about 290, so the settlement suddenly Read More …
During the Great Depression of the1930s, several Unemployment Relief Scheme settlements were established in the Adelaide Hills. A contemporary newspaper report predicted that the settlement in Meadows would achieve “success and prosperity.” Settlers were expected to earn 300 pounds per Read More …
I usually restrict myself to interviewing humans, however I recently overheard two koalas in a nearby tree. Hearing one koala is not unusual in the Adelaide Hills, but this was the first time I had heard two. I couldn’t resist Read More …
My previous post introduced the Unemployment Relief Scheme settlement in Meadows that was established during the Great Depression. Oral history interviewees talked about what it was like to live there in cottages that had been described as ‘roomy tin bungalows’ Read More …
One of the most valuable aspects of oral history is being able to ask someone exactly what it was like to experience a certain event or era. I was fortunate to record interviews with two people who had grown up Read More …