Toledo’s Stories

An Oral History Project

For Grades 11 & 12

Developed by Kristel Shutt James

for CIMT 513: Topics in School Library Media
 What do these images
mean to you?

How can we ensure that we remember

long enough to process their long-term
impact?
 His-tor-y: noun
 The branch of knowledge dealing with past
events;
 a continuous, systematic narrative of past events
as relating to a particular people, country, period,
person, etc., usually written as a chronological
account;
 acts, ideas, or events that will or can shape the
course of the future.
"Those who don't know history
are destined to repeat it.”
Edmund Burke
 But how?....

Oral Histories
 If we don’t take time to record some of that
history today, we may lose a significant resource:
community members who lived through
important developments in labor history.
 Why Oral History?
 Links the present to the past so that students better
understand the cyclical nature of history;
 Allows students to experience history first-hand;
 Expands our understanding of the effects of events;
 Focuses upon ordinary people;
 Promotes critical thinking about a historical event;
 Pushes students to become active citizens;
 Helps prepare young people for what they may
experience in the work world.
Lesson 1: Consideration of Points of
View
Review oral histories of the
Kent State shooting to
assess how point of view
impacts an individual’s
experience.
 Lesson 2: Toledo’s Labor History
Research

Assembly line at
Willys-Overland
Motors

Auto-Lite
Strike of 1934
Union
Membership Toledo
Scale
 Lesson 3: Introduction to Conducting an
Oral History Interview

Listen to oral
histories at Story
Corps.

Have students Train

practice students to
interviewing use a video
each other. camera.
 Lesson 4: Conducting Oral History
Interviews
Generate
interview Conduct the interview.
questions.

Edit and transcript the tape into

a polished video.
Lesson 5: Exploration of
Photographic Databases

Images in Time @ Toledo Lucas

Country Public Library
 Lesson 6: Website Creation
Preview other
oral history
websites.

Design the
website’s content
and layout.

Upload our videos and photos to our

own Oral History website: Toledo’s
Stories.
 Standards Met
Language Arts Standards: Technology:
Reading Applications: Informational, Technology for Productivity
Technical and Persuasive Text Applications
Writing Applications Technology and Communication
Research Applications
 
Technology and Information
Social Studies Standards: Literacy
History
People in Societies
Library:
Citizenship Rights and
Responsibilities Information Literacy
Social Studies Skills and Methods Technology Literacy
  Media Literacy
 Resources
General Oral History Resources:
Images in Time: a collection of historical photographs of Toledo and Northwest Ohio. Toledo-Lucas County Public
Library, Local History Department.1997. Electronic resource. 10 March 2011.
Moyer, Judith. "Step-by-Step Guide to Oral History." DoHistory Home. Center for History and New Media, 1999.
Web. 12 Mar. 2011.
"Oral History as an Educational Methodology." OHP: Oral History Project. Naher Industries, 2011. Web. 12 Mar.
2011.
"Resources & Engagement." Southern Oral History Program - The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Center for the Study of the American South, 2011. Web. 12 Mar. 2011.

Oral History Curricula and/or Lesson Plans:

Cassata, Susan, and Mary Reiman. "Our Changing Voices- Lesson Plans - For Teachers (Library of
Congress)." Library of Congress Home. 26 Sept. 2002. Web. 12 Mar. 2011.
Frenz, Marilyn, and Mel Sanchez. "Exploring Community Through Local History: Oral Stories, Landmarks and
Traditions - Lesson Plans - For Teachers (Library of Congress)." Library of Congress Home. 30 Aug. 2005. Web. 12
Mar. 2011.
"People's Century | Teacher's Guide | Exploring Points of View." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. WGBH
Educational Foundation, 1998. Web. 12 Mar. 2011.
Tell Me Your Stories: An Oral History Curriculum. 2002. Web. 12 Mar. 2011.

Selected Oral History Interviews:

StoryCorps. Corporation for Public Broadcasting and National Public Radio, 2010. Web. 12 Mar. 2011.
Telling Their Stories: Oral History Archives Project. The Urban School of San Francisco. Web. 12 Mar. 2011.