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| Oral History
"When you first came out, did you get any advice from others on how to act? Did you try to emulate anyone else?" can reveal shared values and unwritten codes of conduct. "Did you know of anyone who had a bad reputation in the community? If so, for what?" can reveal social forces that undermined cohesion. Try to get past commonly held stereotypes. If a narrator says, "We were all butch or femme back then," diplomatically inquire if this was true of everyone or just those in the narrator's social circle. If some did not conform, were they from a different social background? The answers might reveal community divisions in effect at the time and indicate other groups to interview. If a story sounds like an urban legend, politely ask if the narrator directly experienced or witnessed the incident(s), or heard about them from someone else. As you gain experience you will start to recognize patterns of popular assumptions. For example, in inquires into Seattle's 1950s bar culture, narrators often mention a blue law stipulating that people could be arrested for not wearing at least three items of gender-appropriate clothing. We have found no record of such a law, but the fact that many believed this to be so no doubt influenced how they dressed for an evening at the bars. Avoid outing or defaming identifiable third parties. Likewise, avoid discussions that jeopardize anyone's legal or professional status--for example, on use of illegal drugs or clandestine entry into the country. If these are essential elements of the narrator's account, she or he might consider using a pseudonym or sealing the records until a later time. Legal Releases In the United States, to publish people's words you need their signed permission. This requires establishing trust with narrators and apprising them, as best as you can, of what will be done with the tapes and transcripts. The Rainbow History Project and the Northwest Lesbian and Gay History Museum Project provide samples of their wordings online. Some narrators might impose restrictions on use of the interview. Common ones include not using names of third parties mentioned, or not divulging certain information until a given number of years have passed. In the latter case, use an edited transcript until the specified time has elapsed. It is helpful to have a relationship with a library or archive that has procedures in place for administering such requests. Avoid making agreements that require you to keep requesting permission for subsequent uses of the material. The narrator might move and be impossible to locate, or pass away without leaving clear instructions. Conclusion Send letters of thanks to narrators, and keep them informed of events and milestones the project has reached. If a publication results, make sure they get complimentary copies. You still have much work to do: copying tapes, "logging" (listing) their contents, getting them transcribed, "auditing" (proofreading) the transcripts. Do not let such details discourage you; the work is vital and priceless. At the advent of the twenty-first century, the survivors of the pre-liberation era are in their 70s and 80s, and there is a limited window of time left in which to record a meaningful first-person account of their culture.
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social sciences >> Overview: Butch-Femme social sciences >> Overview: Libraries and Archives social sciences >> Stonewall Riots
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