Any of the following which reference LGBT people, organizations, businesses, events, etc.:
- Letters to and from friends and associates
- Photographs
- Minutes of meetings
- Annual reports
- Newsletters, newspapers, bar rags, magazines issued by Milwaukee-area LGBT groups etc.
- Artifacts or paraphernalia of any sort: matchbooks, hand-outs from New Years
eve or anniversary events, etc.
- Posters, banners, flyers, other informational literature
- Newspaper articles
- Video or audio tapes of Milwaukee media coverage of events, etc.
- Awards, plaques
- Diaries or memoirs
- Oral histories (see the do-it-yourself guide)
Some items can be digitized (photographed or photocopied) and the original
returned to you, but we would prefer to keep and preserve the original items
for safekeeping if at all possible.
National or state items are of less importance, but are useful in that they
help to put local events into perspective, and place what was going on here
within the context of state, regional, and national events.
The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Oral History gathering
The Project plans to interview both key community figures and some
representative "regular" people as soon as possible- but there are
limitations of time and volunteers to do as much interviewing as we would
like. You may know people who have a rich history in the community, and
great experiences to share, and it's simply not possible for the History
project to get to everyone with a story to tell on a timely basis. For that
situation, we have providing this do-it-yourself guide to taking an oral
history.
Preparations:
- The interview should be done somewhere the interviewee will be comfortable
and at ease.
- Pick a quiet place, free from distractions and background noise.
- Prepare a list of questions you want to have answered, which you think will
bring out the particular interviewee's experiences. Couch those questions
within the framework of the attached questionnaire. (The attached is a list
of questions developed by people experienced in interviewing people. While
some of the questions may seen irrelevant, they are designed partly to help
relax the interviewee, provide a common background against which later
questions can be framed, and ease into the more difficult questions.)
- Ask the interviewee to bring along any materials they may with to reference:
newspaper clippings, photographs, etc. (Many of these can be collected
later, but some may help the person relate their experiences.)
- In some situations, a group setting may be a good idea: especially when the
interviewee needs to get "warmed up" or usually becomes most talkative when
in a group of friends. This can be a god thing, since the recollections of
one person can cause another to recount a similar story or related event.
Two warnings however: don't make the group too large (or none of the
individuals we have the chance to recount as much as they would like), and
take careful notes of who says what so you can follow up with any questions
later.
What you will need:
- Audio tape recorder (standard cassette) - tape the entire interview or
discussion.
- Paper and pen or pencils - take notes as you go, and note tape recorder
counter setting at key points. This will make finding specific sections much
easier later, and reduces the need to transcribe the entire interview.
- A relaxed setting for a decent period of time.
After the interview:
- Don't wait too long to jot down your own observations and to follow up with
any questions. If you delay this step, you will forget what that pressing
question or follow-up item was and perhaps lose a key piece of information.
- Contact the History project about incorporating your interview and notes
into the permanent collection- based on keywords in the notes, we may find
it useful enough to use more quickly than we might have otherwise. You and
your friend or acquaintance will be acknowledged ! (by name or anonymously
as you desire).