[Libs-Or] NEH Recognizes SOU Oral History Project

[Maureen Battistella]

The National Endowment for the Humanities recognized SOU's Stories of
Southern Oregon project last week in a webinar designed to orient new Common
Heritage awardees. The SOU project was one of only three projects selected
and was selected because of the strength of the community connections
developed through the project and the remarkable content surfaced.

Learn these techniques and more in an OLA2018 pre-conference workshop on
4/18 from 8a-12noon taught by faculty from Southern Oregon University,
Oregon State University, Pacific University and University of Portland.

https://orlib18.sched.com/event/DYfT/how-to-document-oregons-thousand-points
-of-life-techniques-and-technologies-to-engage-your-community-using-an-oral-
history-project

Browse the Stories project on the Southern Oregon Digital Archives
maintained by Hannon Library at http://soda.sou.edu

Stories of Southern Oregon is a digital archive of images, diaries, posters
and videos about legacy work life here in Jackson and Josephine counties.
Some of the unique content discovered in the project were photographs of the
Takilma Commune's reforestation crew, Green Side Up, historic logging
photos, photos from the Smokejumper Base Museum, farming in the Applegate
and more. One of the most curious individuals documented was a Sterling
Creek gold miner whose 1986 video footage has had more than 65,000 views
averaging 30m since December 24, 2017.

Investigators Victoria Sturtevant and Maureen Flanagan Battistella
(Sociology/Anthropology) collected stories in small, rural towns throughout
the region in association with local libraries and museums. Librarian Mary
Jane Cedar Face gave out archival supplies and provided guidance in
protecting and preserving family documents. Metadata specialist, Kate
Cleland-Sipfle provided metadata for the collection and Shana Sandor and
student assistants ingested content.

For more information on the Stories collection, contact Maureen Flanagan
Battistella at 541-324-1382 or battistem at sou.edu