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Prepared by Commander David F. Winkler, USNR
Naval Combat Documentation Detachment 206
Naval Historical Center
Contents:
Related Resources: Creating a Personal Memoir of Your Naval Service
Preface
The purpose of this guide is to standardize some of the practices developed at the Naval Historical Center (NHC) by historians of the Contemporary History Branch (CHB), members of Naval Reserve Combat Documentation Detachment 206 (Det. 206), and the Naval Historical Foundation's (NHF) Oral Historian. This guide is also designed to provide some direction to volunteers who conduct oral histories on behalf of the NHC or the NHF. Consequently, there are passages in this guide that may not apply to you, depending on what your objectives are in conducting oral history.
This guide should not be considered the final word on how to conduct oral history. There are several fine references and organizations that can help a novice oral historian. Some of these are listed in the bibliography at the end of this guide. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions on how to improve this guide, or need additional assistance, please write to the Naval Historical Foundation, call the Oral Historian at (202) 678-4333, or send an e-mail to nhfwny@msn.com
Why Oral History Is Important
The
second half of the 20th Century was a critical time in the history
of the US Navy. After defeating German U-boats and the Imperial
Japanese Fleet in World War II, the US Navy responded to more
than 250 crises during the following five decades, including major
conflicts in Korea, Southeast Asia, and the Persian Gulf. The
Navy responded to challenges involving China, Lebanon, India,
Libya, Grenada, Liberia, Cuba, Haiti, and Bosnia. The Soviet Navy
was a significant concern through much of the period.
The
past fifty years mark incredible developments in naval architecture
and technology. Nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, submarines,
and surface combatants; submarine-launched ballistic missiles;
ship-launched surface-to-air and cruise missiles; plus information
collection and dissemination mark just some of the revolutionary
advances of recent decades.
While future historians will note the significance of technological strides made by the Navy during the second half of the 20th Century, they will also study social changes. A shift away from a Naval Academy-dominated officer corps, racial integration, the switch to an all-volunteer force, and finally, the movement of women into most Navy billets are subjects that will be explored in many research and writing projects.
The irony of this information age is that it will probably be more difficult for future historians to reconstruct the events of the late 20th Century than to study the 19th Century. People are less likely to keep diaries, draft correspondence, or send memoranda as in the past. Major decisions are made using e-mail, telephones, and facsimile. Although files are supposed to be maintained electronically, in fifty years floppy disks will likely have followed the path of 8-track tapes and vinyl record albums. In some cases, verbal recollections may constitute the only documentation as to why certain decisions were made. Furthermore, many individuals who fought during World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, and served and contributed to the Navy during this modern era may no longer be with us in the near future. At present, over 500,000 World War II veterans are passing on each year and this number will climb. Thus, there is an urgent need to capture the memories of our veterans.
Let us be candid. As the following pages detail, oral history takes a great deal of effort. However, the end result will more than compensate for the hours spent conducting research and reviewing transcripts. You will have enriched your life as you have taken onboard the experiences of those individuals interviewed. Additionally, you will have provided a measure of immortality for the individual as their recollections are made available for future generations.
Types of Interviews
The
Navy Oral History Program collection includes four types of interviews:
(1) After-action, (2) Topical, (3) End of Tour, and (4) Biographical
(or Career).
After-action interviews consist of interviews conducted by historians of the NHC's Contemporary History Branch and members of the Naval Reserve Combat Documentation Detachment 206 in the wake of significant naval operation. Recent examples of this genre include interviews by NHC historians with dozens of Gulf War veterans in preparation for the history of the U.S. Navy in Desert Shield/Desert Storm, and Captain David Snyder of Det. 206 who found himself in Albania interviewing individuals involved in an evacuation operation.
Topical interviews focus on a specific subject and target individuals associated with the subject. Dr. Robert Schneller has conducted extensive interviews to provide material for his study on the integration of African Americans at the US Naval Academy. Captain Terence McGinnis and Commander David Winkler recently completed a series of interviews to document the establishment of the Western Hemisphere Group, a Mayport-based destroyer squadron.
End of Tour interviews are usually conducted by members of Det. 206 with commanding officers about to depart a major command. Recent examples include interviews by Captain Charles Chadbourn with former Directors of Naval History.
While the first three types of interviews can usually be conducted during one recording session, biographical interviews usually involve several sessions. Paul Stillwell at the US Naval Institute has been carrying on a biographical oral history program for three decades. Commander David Winkler has been conducting biographical interviews for the Naval Historical Foundation. Winkler has recently focused on the careers of former Master Chief Petty Officers of the Navy.
Who to Interview
While everyone has a story to tell, not all stories are worth recording. Oral history projects can consume many hours in preparation, recording, transcribing, editing, and accessioning. You should begin with some objectives. Ask yourself how an individual's story might fill a void in our understanding of naval history. You should also consider the health of your potential interviewee as well as other extenuating circumstances that may affect the final product. Look for referrals. When calling an office, a ship, or an organization, you should ask, "who would be the best person to talk to on this issue." Additional guidance will be provided when different types of oral history interviews are discussed.
Correspondence or a naval message serving as a letter of introduction will help to open doors. For members of Det. 206, message drafting procedures are outlined in the detachment's "Standard Operating Procedure" document. In a letter or message, you need to convey your project's objective, why interviewing this individual will help meet those objectives, how long you anticipate the interview will take, and how the information will be used. You should then follow up a few days later with a phone call to confirm that the individual received your communication.
Preparation
How you prepare for an interview depends on the type of interview you are conducting. One common denominator in all interviews is recording equipment. While a recording studio equipped with state-of-the-art recording equipment is the ideal situation, reality dictates that you go to the interviewee to "get the story." Thus, portable cassette recorders are often our tools of the trade.
The
Naval Historical Center provides cassette recorders for use by
its historians and members of Det. 206. A good cassette recorder
can be purchased for under $50 and most brands share common features.
One useless feature that seems common to all is the AVR switch.
In the ON position, this feature turns the recorder on with the
sound of a voice and then shuts it off if there is a pause. A
historian once conducted an interview and noted his recorder stopping
and starting. This switch was the culprit. It is not difficult
to imagine the quality of your recording should this switch be
engaged. It is recommended you tape over the switch. Another feature
found on some cassette recorders is a fast playback switch. Be
sure this switch is not engaged during your recording.
Frequently
check the volume dial to ensure it is set at the right level.
Once at the beginning of an interview the interviewer took the
recorder out of his pocket and friction caused the volume dial
to go from maximum to minimum. Fortunately, the interviewee graciously
agreed to another recording session.
Of course you should have fresh batteries and have spares handy. The tapes you use can also make a difference. We recommend you use high-density, 60 or 90-minute tapes.
Conduct a test recording before you conduct the interview. This way you will know that you have a good tape and good batteries and that the volume is adjusted correctly. Remember the "Play" and "Record" buttons both should be depressed. There is a one-button recording feature on some of the newer models. An interview was once conducted with just the "Play" button engaged. The end result was a very silent interview.
Whatever the type of interview, you will start each tape by stating your name, the interviewee's name, rank and title if appropriate, the date, and location. If a second tape is used repeat the above and state "This is the second tape." You should have a notepad handy and take notes. If there are two of you, one individual should be the note taker and the other should focus on asking the questions. What questions you ask depend on the type of interview.
Because After-action interviews deal with a recent event, your questions may simply focus on establishing a narrative of "what happened" and when, where, why, and how. Take advantage of opportunities to review message traffic and situation reports prior to the interview. The Navy Command Center in the Pentagon can provide assistance. As for whom to interview, identify individuals holding responsible billets and individuals who may have executed significant actions.
Topical
interviews can require a bit more research. For example, if the
topic is the integration of women into combatant ships, review
articles written for the Navy Times, United States Naval Institute
Proceedings and other journals. The Chief of Naval Information
(CHINFO) can provide public statements on the subject. Do not
ignore the Navy Department Library or other resources within the
NHC. The NHC has an excellent Internet website that can be reached
at http://www.history.navy.mil. The "Wars and Conflicts"
and "Frequently Asked Questions" sections are of particular
interest. To target interviewees, identify the individuals involved
in the policy-making loop. Usually these individuals are named
in articles and press releases. A call to that individual's office
should also help to identify who the "action-officer"
was. You will want to talk to that person. Finally, consider interviewing
individuals at the deckplate level to see what effect a policy
action had.
End-of-tour
interviews also require some preparation. You should contact your
targeted interviewee's Executive Assistant to obtain background
information about the command, the interviewee, and issues of
importance. The NHC Operational Archives may have command histories
from the organization. Some commands even have their own homepages.
Obtain the interviewee's biography and command mission statement
to include with the completed transcript. Standard topical areas
for an End of Tour interview include the situation on arrival,
the commander's greatest challenge, their greatest success/failure,
and how and why things have changed.
Biographical interviews usually take the greatest preparation. Has anyone written about this individual or the events that this person participated in? Has this individual written or spoken on any issues? Although your approach in an interview depends on the person, a chronological approach is best. You should consider a "get to know you" session early on to record childhood memories and discuss follow-on interviews. See if the individual will allow you to review personal papers, cruise books, or photograph collections. Ask the individual if they have ever recorded their recollections. Take notes and develop a general outline. Share this outline with the interviewee prior to the recording session and ask for comments. Be sure to get a copy of the interviewee's latest biography sheet. Knowing the ground to be covered allows the interviewee an opportunity to reflect and prepare.
The Interview
Conduct the interview at a location where the interviewee feels at ease. This can be at the interviewee's home, office, or stateroom. Keep the ambient noise in mind. On one occasion an interview was planned to be conducted in a backyard patio only to discover the interviewee lived under Reagan National Airport's aircraft flight path. The interview was subsequently moved inside. Conducting an interview on board a ship can be especially challenging. If there is a noise interruption during the interview, just give the interviewee a time out signal and your transcriber will thank you.
Do not place the cassette recorder on a hard surface such as a tabletop because interior sounds, especially on a ship, will transmit right into the cassette recorder. One should normally place the recorder on a padded surface. Ideally the recorder should be within five or six feet of the interviewee. As you proceed with the interview, take notes. This is not an easy task since you will also want to focus on what the individual is saying so that you may proceed with follow up questions. Having good notes can be extremely helpful as shall be discussed later.
Before you turn on the cassette, go over some ground rules. Explain that you may interject at times to ask for or include the spelling of the names of people, places, and things or the meaning of an acronym for the benefit of the transcriber. Explain the purpose of the interview and the eventual disposition of the tape and/or transcript. If the interviewee is not a current member of the Department of the Navy, explain that he or she will be asked to sign a release form. Active duty personnel giving interviews about their official duties and responsibilities during their official working hours are not required to sign a release form. Inform the interviewee that slanderous remarks about another individual, if transcribed, could subject the interviewee (and the Department of the Navy) to a libel lawsuit.
The interviewee may want to impose some restrictions. While active duty personnel cannot place access restrictions on their interview, non-DoD interviewees have more latitude. If the interviewee asks, you may suggest that they can restrict access to the interview for a time period. Try to avoid an access restriction of more than five years. Incidentally, courts have ruled that "closed" transcripts held within government repositories are not exempt from Freedom of Information Act requests.
As a rule, you should avoid discussing security classified material. (Interviews conducted under the aegis of the Naval Historical Foundation Oral History Program will NEVER discuss classified information.) If there is classified material that is vital to the story, then ask the interviewee to identify the classified information and explain why it is classified. Refer to the appropriate security instructions on current marking instruction. If classified material is discussed, be sure to conduct the interview in a secure space and have provisions for secure storage and shipment of your completed tapes.
How the recording session goes depends on the interviewee. Many sessions have been conducted during which the individual has talked at great length, covering all of the desired issues without the interviewer having to ask questions. During other sessions it can be like a dentist trying to extract teeth. The key is to ask general questions that cannot be answered with a yes or no. "Explain" or "Discuss" are the types of words that should be prevalent in your question list. Focus on events. Avoid the hypothetical "in what direction should the Navy go" question unless you are interviewing an incoming CNO or Secretary of the Navy. If an answer involves a theoretical discussion, ask for examples to illustrate. When the interviewee finishes a statement, do not be so quick to ask the next question. Pause. The interviewee may often add additional insights. In addition, be prepared to ask amplifying questions that you had not considered during the outline-preparation process. Always remember that this is an interview and not a conversation. If something the interviewee says triggers a sea story that you would like to share, hold it until after the recording session is over.
After you have run through your list of prepared questions, a good closing question might be, "Is there anything else I should ask?" or "Is there anything that you would like to add on this subject?" You may also want to ask for referrals to other individuals who are familiar with the subject.
Follow-on Activities
An NHC historian once asked another staff member to make a duplicate of a tape that was to be sent out for transcription. The staff member accidentally put the two tapes in backwards and duped the blank tape over the recorded tape. This episode provides several invaluable lessons: (1) The historian did the correct thing by duplicating the tape before sending it out for transcription because you never know what can happen--they just chose the wrong person to do the duplication. (2) Had the historian snapped off the two tabs along the edge of the cassette as soon as the interview was concluded, a regrettable error would have been avoided. When you complete an interview, immediately break those tabs and write in the date, interviewer and interviewee names, and security classification (if needed) on the cassette and the casing. (3) Because the historian took good notes during this interview, the staff member's error wasn't the disaster it could have been!
Now what? How you proceed depends on what treatment the tape warrants. In the case of most After-Action interviews and some Topical interviews, you may just want to do an interview summarization. In contrast, End of Tour interviews, some Topical interviews, and most Biographical interviews should be transcribed.
Summarizing an Interview
There are two steps in summarization. First, play back the tape and as you listen, fill out an oral interview worksheet, noting the time or tape counter marks on the cassette player when certain questions and answers were discussed. You should decide whether to go by time or tape counter, although we have been told that not all tape counters turn at the same pace. (Should you use the tape counter, be sure to zero out the counter when you start the tape.) The purpose of the time sheet is twofold: it provides a finding aid to a researchers who may have a desire to listen to a portion of the interview, and it provides you with additional material besides your notes from which to draft an interview summary.
Basically, the interview summary should read like a book report. Some summaries have gone on for three and four pages. If these are done correctly, a researcher might be able to avoid listening to the tape. Draft the interview summary shortly after the interview; it allows you the advantage of writing while the interview is still fresh in your mind and it may provide you with the opportunity to submit the draft of the summary to the interviewee for review. Some interview summaries conducted by Det. 206 have tended to overuse bullets and were formatted in the style of fitness reports. Avoid this. After typing your interview summary into a word processing computer, you will forward a disk with the summary, a printout, the time sheet, and the cassette tape to the NHC's Operational Archives. A paragraph format is easier to electronically transfer to the Paradox finding aid system. Typically it will take three to four hours of work per hour of tape to produce a time sheet and interview summary.
Transcribing an Interview
Ideally, all tapes should be transcribed. Researchers prefer to scan a transcript rather than listen to a tape. Transcripts are wonderful for those who write history for they gain the interviewee's direct insights about an event and may be able to extract great quotes to liven up their narratives. However, it takes about 10+ hours of work of transcribing and editing per hour of tape to create a transcription. The good news is that you will not be saddled with all of this work.
If you have completed a relatively short interview that warrants transcription, consider doing it yourself. First of all, you will comprehend what has been said more easily because you have just sat through the interview and have an appreciation for the interviewee's verbal nuances. Second, you can assure yourself a relatively quick turnaround time. How long it takes to transcribe an hour of tape depends on how fast you can type, the pace of the interview, and the clarity of the recording.
The Oral History Program tries to obtain a near verbatim transcript, although "ahs," "dahs," "umms" and other false starts are edited out. Don't kill yourself trying to interpret something that is unintelligible. Just type [unclear] and move on. The draft transcript is double-spaced, left-justified, 12 pt pitch, New Times Roman. Page numbers are placed at the bottom of the page and centered. Type out the interviewer's and interviewee's names in capital letters, as follows:
JONES: Admiral, please explain the reasoning behind the decision to build the new aircraft carrier out of balsa wood?
SMITH: Balsa wood has incredible stealth qualities. Our scientists at Naval Research Laboratories conducted extensive tests to verify this.
[Note there is no indentation. Commercial transcribers who charge by the page love to indent because it leaves fewer words per page!]
Editing a Transcript
In most cases someone else will transcribe the interview. Before shipping the tape to the NHC, make a duplicate just in case something happens during the shipping process. When the tape, draft transcript, and disk are returned to you, do a light proofread to catch silly stuff. For example, during an interview an interviewee stated he was born in Dedham, Massachusetts. The transcript read he was born "in the dead of Massachusetts!" If there are passages of the interview where the individual is unclear, you should mark on the margin "please clarify." After your review, forward the transcript to the interviewee for review. Check with the interviewee to see if he or she would prefer a hard copy of the transcript to mark up or a disk copy so they can perform their own editing. Should the interviewee select the latter option, you should be most grateful.
Most individuals will prefer to review a hard copy and return the draft to you marked up. Occasionally, you will get a transcript back with few changes. However, do not be surprised if you get back a transcript full of heavy edits. I've even received completely rewritten pages and have been forced to rewrite my question to correspond with an answer. Some oral historians may scream "foul." These edits are welcome because they demonstrate that that interviewee has a sincere interest in getting the story correct. The history of the United States Navy is quite complex and many issues need to be carefully explained. It is found that after these edits, the transcript becomes a far more useful resource for historians. When there is heavy editing, however, you should note this in the preface to the interview.
The final step in editing the transcript is to create in a separate file, a "Subjects Covered" listing. Your efforts will be for naught without the creation of a good finding aid to point researchers in the right direction. An example of this follows:
Subjects Covered:
On the same file as "Subjects Covered" you may consider writing a short preface to introduce the interview. The preface should allude to the interviewee's distinguished career and why this career may be of significance to historians. The preface also provides an opportunity for you to thank the interviewee for his or her cooperation and anyone else who worked on the project.
Packaging the Transcript
Once all of the above is written, have some else proofread the preface, subjects covered, the biography sheet the interviewee provided, and the transcript, to catch additional errors. If you have not done so already, you should obtain a signed release form from the interviewee transferring the copyright on the transcript. To transfer the transcript package to Operational Archives, send the original release form, preface, biography sheet, subjects covered page, transcript, disk, and tapes to:
Operational Archives
Naval Historical Center
805 Kidder Breese Street SE
Washington Navy Yard DC 20374-5060.
If a decision has been made to publish the transcript, forward the materials to the Naval Historical Foundation (attn: Oral Historian), at the following address. They will forward the material to the Operational Archives when they are finished preparing it for publication.
Attn: Oral Historian
Naval Historical Foundation
1306 Dahlgren Ave. SE
Washington Navy Yard DC 20374-5055
Once the package is received, additional formatting will be done (single-spacing, bolding names and questions, etc.) and a cover page and cover added. Some of the transcripts will be illustrated with photographs drawn from the NHC's Curator Branch Photographic Section. A limited run of transcripts will be printed for distribution to the Naval Academy Library, the Naval War College, the Naval Postgraduate School, the Navy Department Library, Naval Institute and Library of Congress. You and the interviewee also receive copies. Upon completion of production, the originals are transferred to Operational Archives for long-term preservation.
There are quite a few resources you can draw on in addition to the guidance provided above. The national Oral History Association with several regional branches is a likely source. If you have Internet access all you need to do is type in "Oral History" in one of your search engines for potentially useful sources.
Bogart, Barbara Allen and William Lynwood Montell. From Memory to History: Using oral Sources for Historical Research. Nashville: American Association for State and Local History, 1981.
Baum, Willa K. Oral History for the Local Historical Society. Nashville: American Association for State and Local History, 1974.
Davis, Cullum, Kathryn Back and Kay MacLean. Oral History: From Tape to Type. Chicago: American Library Association, 1977.
Dunaway, David K., and Willa K. Baum eds. Oral History: An Interdisciplinary Anthology. Nashville: American Association for State and Local History, 1984.
Everett, Stephen E. Oral History: Techniques and Procedures. Washington: Center of Military History, 1992.
Frank, Benis M. A 'Do-It-Yourself' Oral History Primer. Washington: History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U. S. Marine Corps, 1982.
Hoopes, James. Oral History: An Introduction for Students. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1979.
Richie, Donald. Doing Oral History. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1995.
Thompson, Paul. The Voice of the Past: Oral History. Oxford:
Oxford University Press,
1978.
16 March 2000