Since Thursday, Jacob and I have made relatively significant progress in scoping out the purview of our project. We’ve decided to broaden our focus from Mexican migration to Latin American migration, as we didn’t want the specificity to hinder any prospective interviewees. We spoke with our campus’s research archivist and set up an appointment for Tuesday to go through the government data collections archive. We plan on pouring through data from sources like the U.S. Census Bureau, as well as the Department of Labor, to gain further insight into the Latin American presence within the CSRA since the 1980’s.
In terms of audio and digital tools, Jacob has been gathering and testing his personal recording devices, and is in the process of identifying the tools made available through our university. Meanwhile, I’ve been toying around with various digital tools, specifically StoryMaps and Timeline, to get a feel for the most effective ways to project our communities’ oral histories. StoryMaps feels much more effective now that we’ve expanded our scope from strictly the city of Aiken to the entire Central Savannah River Area, which consists of twenty-one counties spanning across the border of South Carolina and Georgia. Gathering perspectives from both states is definitely going to add an interesting element, so I’m very eager to bring that to fruition.
As far as working towards the interviewing process, we’ve been able to identify a specific location to seek out potential interviewees. I’ve also reached out to a leader of The Asociación Cultural Hispanoamericana de la CSRA for a possible interview later this week, and am anxiously awaiting her response. Fingers crossed. Honestly, I’m extremely nervous about the nearing endeavor of conducting an interview, but, I’m trying to perceive it as an opportunity for me to overcome my anxieties. Again y’all, fingers crossed.
I think that it is a smart decision to broaden the scope of your project, regarding both your targeted geographic location and the group of migrants you wish to interview. With a larger pool of interviewees, there are more opportunities to hear unique stories and experiences, all while ensuring you will have enough contacts to conduct the proper amount of oral histories. As for your digital tools and technology, I like hearing about your group’s collaboration. By having Jacob work out the technicalities with the audio equipment, and with your focus on some preliminary digital tools, I think you are dividing the work in an efficient manner. I hope you hear back from your contact soon and good luck conducting your first interview! Once you complete your first oral history, I bet you will figure out the process and the rest of the interviews won’t be so worrisome!
I really like your and Jacob’s dedication to provide hard data along with the interviews. That will definitely be useful in legitimizing what you have to say and what your interviewees have to say. In getting to know you online I think that you will be able to do really well despite being nervous, because I find you have interesting things to say and you usually say it well. Good luck though!!
I agree with Christa. I’m sure you will be successful conducting the interview. Plus, remember that an oral history interview is really about the interviewee sharing. That should ease some of the pressure you are feeling. Can’t wait to hear about your first interview.
Here is a link to my blog post with a review of your project! http://migration.coplacdigital.org/robblee/2018/04/16/reviewing-classmates-projects/