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Reflection 2

           The oral history that I chose to listen to was about the life of Miss Theresa Pennix.  She talked to the interviewers a lot about her experience attending the J.C. Price School and living in Warnersville.  In this oral history, I learned about the impact that school can have on a person who does not have much.  Miss Pennix talked about how she would cry when school was out because she missed it that terribly.  School was a great and fun place to be.  She loved the teachers and friends that she connected with there.  She mentioned that one of the things that J.C. Price School taught was her the importance of friendship.  Her answer to the interviewer’s question about white education during this time went along with my knowledge of this era.  Miss Pennix told the girls conducting the interview that she could not comment on the subject of white people’s education because she knew nothing about it.  I figured this to be true with my understanding on how segregation worked in the South.  Whites and African Americans were kept completely separate and nothing was shared between the two.  Inequality and segregation ran rampant during this era.  I also knew that many communities were close knit and would help each other out in any way that they could.  Miss Pennix mentioned stories about this in her interview too.  She talked about a woman, Miss Higgins, who would walk down the street to check on you or your children and make sure everyone was well.  Miss Pennix story about the J.C. Price School principal really impacted me.  She became very emotional when talking about Mr. Peeler and the love and admiration she had for him was obvious.  She mentioned how he would make you feel good about yourself and your accomplishments.  Seeing her become emotional with this story really impacted me, showing how much school and the people in it really meant to her and her life.

                I think conducting an oral history worked well with this project.  The ability to see Miss Pennix’s emotions come through when answering certain questions brought a whole new meaning to the project.  Her emotions are not something easily seen or conveyed in written words.  I thought that the interviewers did a pretty good job overall.  They had awesome pertinent questions that brought out more detail in Miss Pennix’s stories.  Some of the questions could definitely be turned over into our project in Optimist Park.  Questions like how the community impacted you, what your occupation was, and what ideas were taught to you from the community could all be incorporated into our project.  I thought that there were a few improvements to be made with the interviewing technique in this video.  Miss Pennix has to ask the questioner to speak louder and also responds to many questions with “huh”.  After the first instance, the interviewer should realize that Miss Pennix has trouble hearing and should speak clearer and louder from that point on.  I also feel that the interviewer was slightly interruptive.  Miss Pennix would still be talking about an event from her past and you could hear the questioner trying to interject with another question.  I feel that the interviewer should let Miss Pennix finish whatever she is talking about even if it strays from the topic due to the possibility that more information can come from the story she is telling.  By trying to cut her off, the interviewer is missing potentially pertinent information.

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