UNews - Dr. Heidi MacDonald

Oral history project celebrates U of L’s 50th anniversary with 50 Voices

caroline.zentner — Wed, 11 Jan 2017 16:29:31 +0000

The 50 Voices oral history project has woven a tapestry of perspectives about the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge over the past 50 years. From the early days, when Dr. Van Christou (LLD ’84) worked to convince the provincial government of the need for a university in Lethbridge, to the turn of the century, when Dr. Bryan Kolb was shocked but pleased by then-president Dr. Howard Tennant’s promise to construct a neuroscience building, the project captures the U of L’s impressive emergence as a leading university.

Undertaken as an anniversary project, the Centre for Oral History and Tradition (COHT) wanted to portray a diverse assortment of voices—faculty, staff, students, alumni and administrators—in the 50 Voices project. COHT was still in its infancy when it adopted the project to commemorate the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s 50th anniversary. Dr. Jenna Bailey, a post-doctoral fellow with COHT, suggested the idea as she had been involved in a similar project at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Sussex.

Dr. Dennis Connolly is one of the people featured in the 50 Voices oral history project

The 50 Voices project committee, which includes Professor Emeritus Dr. Jim Tagg, Dr. Chris Hosgood, Dr. Heidi MacDonald and U of L archivist Mike Perry, brought Tracy McNab (BASc ’81, MA ’09) on board as project manager to begin planning for 50 Voices. The beauty of oral history is that it provides a way to tell a story from multiple perspectives, something that befits the U of L’s beginnings.

“I don’t think a traditional top-down narrative suits the U of L; it was a grassroots university,” says McNab.

“The two best features of oral history are highlighted in this project,” says MacDonald, a U of L history professor and COHT director. “First, oral history allows us to interview people from a variety of walks of life and I think we’ve come through. Second, the richness of oral history allows the participants to interpret the event as they saw it.”

After McNab set up the terms of reference and the study had been approved by the Human Subject Research Committee, the difficult process of selecting interviewees started. They built on the interviews done by Tagg for the First Generation Oral History Project. They wanted an equal number of men’s and women’s voices. After seeking help from the U of L’s 50th anniversary steering committee and numerous other constituencies, names started pouring in and, once the 50 had been chosen, invitations were sent.

“They were thrilled to be asked. Only one person declined our invitation in favour of someone else in the department they thought would be more representative,” says MacDonald. “Tracy deserves an awful lot of credit for that; oral history is all about relationship and communication.”

Students were also involved in the process, whether conducting interviews or transcribing them. In addition to Jenna Bailey, who served as a consultant on the project, Johanna DeVisser, Diane McKenzie, Nicole McMullan and Jasmine Saler conducted the interviews, transcribed them and chose representative excerpts for the 50 Voices website. Levi Balen photographed the interviewees and edited photos for the website.

“It was amazing and I really enjoyed working on the project,” says Diane McKenzie (BA ’16), a graduate student who conducted 13 interviews for 50 Voices. “The people I interviewed were fantastic. They are so interesting and have accomplished so much in their lives. This project is a great way to capture the U of L’s history.”

A theme that emerged from the interviews was that the U of L was a community from its very early days. That’s a sentiment that Sheila Matson, one of the 50 Voices, agrees with. Matson, who joined the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in 1968 as support staff in the Registrar’s office, says the U of L was like a second home—a place where she felt welcomed and safe, had adventures and was encouraged to grow.

“I was a kid when I started and it’s wonderful to still be around this place,” says Matson. “I feel like I have a real history here. My first husband, Grant Pisko (BASc ’70), and my current husband, Alan Matson (BASC ’71, BEd ’77), are both alums. My son Matt (Pisko) (BSc ’97) and my daughter Lindsay (Pisko Ganske) (BA, BMgt ’01) studied here and worked as lifeguards at the pool. Our family has really been linked with the U of L.”

The full interviews will be deposited in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Archives and will be available on the web through the library for generations of students, community members and scholars in the years ahead.

“This is truly a legacy gift for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ,” says Perry. “By acquiring, preserving and making this project available to the wider community, the 50 Voices Oral History Project will make a lasting contribution to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s historical record.”

“The interviews provide context and emotion and the result is an account with breadth and depth,” says McNab.

U of L’s Centre for Oral History and Tradition to offer public workshops

caroline.zentner — Tue, 03 May 2016 17:11:13 +0000

Oral history projects help bring the past to life through the voices of people who lived at the time. Members of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Centre for Oral History and Tradition (COHT), in partnership with the Galt Museum and Archives, a

Dr. Jenna Bailey

re offering their expertise as oral historians to help southern Albertans make their projects a reality.

“There’s definitely more and more interest in oral history in Alberta these days,” says Dr. Jenna Bailey, COHT senior research fellow. “People realize it’s a wonderful way to collect local history and many museums and community organizations are doing oral history projects.”

“Oral histories are found in many archives and the Galt Archives is no exception. They are valuable historical sources as much as letters, diaries and official documents,” says Andrew Chernevych, the Galt Museum’s archivist. “Oral histories help preserve experiences of people who don’t commit their memories to writing; this is perhaps the only way to capture some unique aspects of history.”

Andrew Chernevych

Oral history projects often involve collaboration amongst the generations. As people in a community get older, younger generations may realize that much local history resides in people’s memories, especially in rural areas. Oral history projects provide a way for that knowledge to be preserved.

“In an era of so much electronic communication and ever-changing technology, we must consciously record and preserve aspects of our history,” says Dr. Heidi MacDonald, history professor and director of COHT. “Oral histories, preserved in archives, will be a wonderful source for future generations of family and professional historians.”

Oral history is an intimate way of capturing the history of a place as well as the diverse histories of individual lives. Engaging stories are the result and those who offer up their own history often enjoy the opportunity to share their lives as part of a wider history.

Dr. Heidi MacDonald

“For organizations or individuals who recognize the importance of the history of an area but don’t necessarily have a huge budget or team, oral history interviews are an accessible way to capture history,” says Bailey.

Workshop participants will learn how to plan an oral history project from the ground up, including what kind of recording device to use, what questions to ask and obtaining consent.

The COHT and the Galt Museum & Archives are delivering the workshops with several co-partners — the Crowsnest Community Library, the Crowsnest Museum & Archives, Stavely and District Museum, Claresholm & District Museum, and the Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre in Medicine Hat — who are hosting the individual sessions. Beginner workshops are scheduled for May 27 at the Galt Museum, June 10 at the Crowsnest Community Library, June 11 at the Stavely & District Museum and September 23 at the Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre in Medicine Hat. An intermediate workshop is scheduled for October 21 at the Galt Museum & Archives.

The keynote speaker for the workshops is Kimberly Lyall, project manager for the Governor General’s Award-winning Coyote Flats Oral History Project. She’ll share her experiences and offer tips for carrying out an oral history project. Other workshop presenters are trained oral historians.

The cost is $70 plus GST for adults and $25 plus GST for seniors and students. To register for the May 27 workshop, call 403-320-3954 or 1-866-320-3898, ext. 0 by May 20. For the June 10 workshop in the Crowsnest Pass, call 403-563-5434 by June 3. For the June 11 workshop in Stavely, call 403-549-0189 or send an email to jmbmab@gmail.com by June 4. For the Sept. 23 workshop in Medicine Hat, call 403-502-8777 by Sept. 16. The deadline for registration for the intermediate workshop at the Galt is Oct. 14.

50 Voices research project gathering steam

caroline.zentner — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 18:26:13 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, as central as it is to the fabric of southern Alberta, means something different to each person who has walked its hallways.

What better way to commemorate the U of L’s 50th anniversary than by giving those who have been part of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s journey the chance to tell their stories? That’s the idea behind the 50 Voices research project by the Centre for Oral History and Tradition (COHT), led by Dr. Chris Hosgood, a historian and co-chair of the 50^th anniversary steering committee, Professor Emeritus Dr. Jim Tagg, Mike Perry, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ archivist, Dr. Heidi MacDonald, a history professor, and Tracy McNab, project manager.

“There’s not one story of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge,” says MacDonald, COHT director. “The great thing about oral history is that people interpret their own experience. The goal here is diversity.”

“The objective is to attain a richness and multiplicity of voices,” says McNab (BASc ’81, MA ’09). “We’re looking for voices from all populations, including students, professors, staff, community members, and alumni. We want to include everyone, from the movers and shakers to the ones we should know about but don’t. We want to get a flavour of what the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ has been like these last 50 years.”

Tagg has already captured some of that flavour in the interviews recorded for the First Generation Oral History Project. Those interviews focused on the formative years at the U of L and include such gems as the story of how Dr. Dennis Connolly, a longtime mathematics professor, joined the ranks of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ.

Connolly found himself stranded in Lethbridge in April 1967 when a blizzard shut down travel across southern Alberta. He knew nothing of Lethbridge then; it was merely a stopover on his way from Yellowstone National Park to Banff.

“I’ve never seen so much snow in my life. It was five feet of snow within a day or two. They were feeding cattle with helicopters,” he says.

Being stuck in a motel, Connolly found a copy of the Lethbridge Herald and read an article about the new ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ opening in a couple of months. With nothing else to do, Connolly made his way to the college campus to have a look.

“I put in an application,” he says, adding he thought he’d work for a year or two before doing a doctoral degree. “I thought it would be a new start and I’d be a professor all of a sudden.”

Excerpts from some of the First Generation recordings will be used in the 50 Voices project, complemented by additional interviews with other voices, like that of Sheila Matson, a U of L employee since 1968. She started in the registrar’s office when the U of L was still in its infancy.

“It was a really cool time. We were in little trailers over on the south side just at the corner where you turn to go the Enmax Centre,” she says. “I’m a people person and the thing I’ve loved about the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ is interacting with faculty and staff and students.”

Matson has been an administrator in almost every department on campus, from anthropology to student awards, and she’s watched the U of L become the dynamic place it is today. She didn’t hesitate to participate in the 50 Voices project.

“I was absolutely stunned, first of all, to even be asked. It’s a remarkable undertaking, especially for the 50 Voices to represent the diversity of this place,” says Matson. “I feel thrilled and very proud to be asked to contribute.”

To ensure a breadth of voices is included, the 50 Voices final project will feature equal numbers of interviews with men and women, represent all of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s constituency groups and cover the entire U of L timeline.

“We want a variety of stories from all walks, so the process is extremely difficult. We have literally tens of thousands of people from whom to choose. It’s been a tough job for us,” says MacDonald.

“It’s a considered effort and a lot of work has gone into looking at the people who have been brought forward. We’ve had suggestions from all over and we are still accepting suggestions,” says McNab.

Since 50 Voices is a research project, approval from the Human Subject Research Committee was sought and granted. Students are involved in the project through Applied Studies placements. In addition to selecting excerpts from the First Generation interviews, they will participate in interviewing new subjects. The end result will be a webpage with a photo of each participant, a short biography and a link to an audio excerpt from their interview. The interview excerpts will be less than five minutes long, but the full interviews will be available through ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Archives.

“Through these interviews we’re also building sources and preserving materials for future scholars,” says MacDonald. “Oral history, more than other kinds of history, is democratic and grassroots, bottom up. It shows that history is completely dependent on one’s perspective. We don’t believe in a single narrative. We think 50 Voices will, to some extent, give 50 histories.”

Suggestions are welcome and can be submitted by email to tracy.mcnab@uleth.ca.

UNews - Dr. Heidi MacDonald

Oral history project celebrates U of L’s 50th anniversary with 50 Voices

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U of L’s Centre for Oral History and Tradition to offer public workshops

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