Asian American History and the Making of the U.S. Immigration System

The Oral History Interview

After diving deep into the works Bui and Huynh, I will prepare the students for the focus of their project: The Oral History Interview.  The students need to understand oral history is twofold: 1) the method of gathering, preserving and interpreting the memories of people who witnessed past events, and 2) the resulting transcription.  Rather than focusing on official documents, the oral interview centers personal narratives and everyday experiences to provide a more inclusive record of the past; recording memories and emotions which are often not captured in official archives.

Who Built America Project²⁶ is a free digital open educational resource and primary source repository created by the American History Project at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY).  It surveys the nation’s past to show the role working people played in the making of modern America.  On this site, we can access digitized audio and text interviews, explore historical audio clips and transcripts, browse related federal archive collections and explore the open educational resource update from the Labor and Working-Class History Association (LAWCHA), all to assist with the oral interview. 

How to get started with an Oral Interview

1. The student needs to choose a willing person to interview, one possessing firsthand knowledge of their immigration story.
2. The student must be well prepared: All questions pre-decided with excellent recording capabilities (written, record, video, etc.)
3. The student interviewer and interviewee share the conscious goal of creating a historical record.
4. Both parties sign a contract agreeing to the terms of use of the oral history and transcript.
5. These records are made accessible to future generations.

Student Activities with the Oral Interview

1. Preparation: Formulate questions. This will be a wonderful small-group project.  Divide the class into small groups, and each group will create a list of interview questions.  A ‘share-out’ of the small groups will create a master list.
2. Equipment: The students can record the interview (video or audio, or both) with their phones. We can spend class preparing with ‘mock’ interviews with other classmates.  If preferred, a student can choose to handwrite or type the interview on their computer.
3. Consent: Ensure the interviewee signs a release form granting permission for the recording to be used.
4. Questioning: Prepare open-ended questions, starting with early life or background before moving into specific historical topics.
5. Preservation: Transcribe the recording.
6. Share: Optional reading of transcription to the class.