NOLA: The Final Discussion

April 23

            Today I met with Dr. Manning to discuss my work on the NOLA project. Dr. Manning asked me what I thought after I confessed that I had in fact listened to many of the recordings and read through some of the transcripts. It was interesting as well as fascinating seeing how the interviewers on this project conducted their work. The questions that were asked as well as how they made the interviewees feel as comfortable as possible. I feel that an oral history is difficult because even though it is a firsthand account of what has been happening and what the volunteers have witnessed I believe the interviewees may still hold back.

            While the answers may be honest, I still wondered if the interviewer was getting a completely honest answer or were there parts of the volunteers’ experiences that they were not yet ready to talk about. I do believe that oral histories are relevant just as any other form of accepted historical method is and should be pursued. Regardless of the method, the facts given by one volunteer may be significantly different than the facts given by another volunteer. I think that the background of the volunteer is just as important as the work they are doing because it is in their background and beliefs that you will discover how they perceive certain situations and process them. What may seem severe treatment by one volunteer may be perceived by a different volunteer as a mere inconvenience.

            I did learn a quite a bit this semester about the intricacies of oral histories and what they entail. The work is hard and its tedious and even though I kind of did agree with Dr. Manning as far as it being akin to a police interrogation, I also believe it’s how you ask the questions that may lead you to the truth. Proceed carefully is what I determined to be one way to handle oral histories and as Dr. Manning pointed out, there has to be a common thread among all the interviews that would make for a compelling argument because after all is said and done it is quite possible that my truth is very different from everyone else’s.   

At the end

April 10

            I have completed my assignment. I have organized the volunteers by organization as well as just listed them with their documentation or lack thereof. I made more work for myself and the last part of it was a bit more tedious. I realized I had to stop letting myself get side tracked by listening to the audio as well as reading the transcripts. I did feel that I wanted to know more about these volunteers and did not want them to remain faceless names on my screen. These volunteers went through their own ordeals while volunteering to help just some of the hundreds of people that were left homeless by Hurricane Katrina.

            Their hard work will always be appreciated by those they touched and I also believe that by documenting what they experienced is just as important as documenting what the local survivors of Katrina went through. This should be done without sensationalism and should be as factual as possible. The volunteers who went to New Orleans are survivors too, albeit a different kind of survivor but that does not make them any less affected by the devastation and loss that they witnessed. I see that the NOLA oral project could go down several paths and investigations could perhaps take us away from what we want this project to be. It is about the volunteers and the hope that they have brought to the people of New Orleans.  

A few more recordings

April 4

            My inquisitive nature has led me to a different place during my assignment. I listened to a few more audio recordings and read through some more transcripts of the interviews. I find myself slightly upset. These volunteers first went to New Orleans not really knowing why they were drawn to this place. When they did make the decision to quit their steady jobs in lieu of helping the people of New Orleans they did not expect to encounter what can be described as aggressive behavior from the law enforcement officials that were assigned to the location.  Some of the volunteers were taken aback by this behavior and treatment.

            I am trying to see both sides of this issue but so far I find myself asking more questions than coming up with a solid reason as to why the officers were so aggressive. This was just a minor issue the volunteers encountered. There was violence and shootings and death still occurring all around them. I’m thinking Catholic Charities and the other organizations left that out of the volunteer pamphlet they received before joining the cause. I do commend the volunteers though; they did not pack up their bags and run for the hills. They stayed and continued to work for the community.

Just a little more work

April 1

            I’m back at it again. I did manage to find a couple of hours of quiet time in between all my other duties to finish my list of volunteers and list their documentation. As I look over the list I am not satisfied with the work and then decide to list the organizations and the volunteers within the organizations as well as list the number of audio and video files as well as whether a transcript of the interview is also on file. I know this is more work but I feel that it would make more sense to present Dr. Manning with as much information on each volunteer as possible.

            I decide to use an outline format to accomplish my next step. I began to list the organizations and the volunteers within each. I counted all the audio files attached as well as any video files that might have accompanied the interview. This process is going to take me much longer than just listing everyone’s name and whether or not their informed consent or deed of gift was attached. I’m up for the new challenge that I have now imposed on myself; besides it gives me an excuse to listen to a few more audios.

Finding time to work is frustrating!

March 29

            I decided to do some work on one of the computers in the library during my brief 45 minute lunch break. Mistake number 1, was thinking I was going to be able to concentrate in the university library. Lots of loud whispering in the library, as well as fellow students wondering what I was working on or just wanting to chat.

            Mistake number 2, I’m in uniform and therefore a couple of students wanted to know who wrote them parking tickets (not me!) for parking over the lines in the parking garage and asked how they could get out of paying them. My accomplishment during my 45 minute break? I did not eat, I only managed to get through one organization and I now have a headache. So much for thinking I was going to accomplish more than just socializing today. This assignment definitely requires a quiet space and no distractions. This means back to working on my slow computer at home. Hopefully my kids will co-operate (and they are older, yet still needy) and give me at least an hour to myself to hopefully organize my notes.  

 

Sorting Through...

March 26

            Today I spent a couple of hours sorting through all the volunteers and some of their paperwork. After all my assignment this semester is to make a list of the paperwork each one has to see what still needs to be collected from them. This is a bit tedious and boring. I would much rather continue reading over some transcripts or listening to some interview audio.

            I have to decide how I want to organize this assignment in order for it to be comprehensible and easy to follow. I try a couple of different formats before deciding to just list each name and list the documentation that is attached to each. I begin going through each organization and writing down the volunteers listed. The computer I was using was having some issues and it took an inordinate amount of time to open each file. I gave up after about 90 minutes having only gone through three organizations. This was a frustrating obstacle.

Too much devastation

March 24

            I continue to look over many of the transcripts in the NOLA project and notice that people who volunteered to help re-build New Orleans originally were just curious about the devastation that Katrina had left behind. The hurricane slammed into New Orleans in 2005 and most of the volunteers interviewed were in New Orleans in 2008. A recurring theme with the volunteers was their shock at still seeing so much destruction upon their arrival. More than one volunteer stated that they thought in three years more progress would have been seen in the surrounding areas around the city center. Many volunteers were taken aback by the lack of progress and extreme need the people waiting for homes exhibited.

            It was a sobering realization by many of the volunteers and many would admit that it would require them to volunteer for more than just a week to make a difference. This lack of progress led many volunteers to quit their stable and well paid jobs. The volunteers felt that  helping so many families return to a normal life would garner a much bigger reward than a paycheck ever could.   

Making a Difference

March 21

            In the transcripts that I have reviewed thus far the volunteers were asked what their motivation was to go to New Orleans and help. The answers ranged from “I don’t know, I thought it would be fun to see, well not fun but an adventure,” to people who believed it was their Christian duty to help those in need. What began as a one week volunteer trip for many ended up becoming a desire to re-evaluate their own life. What they wanted not only for themselves but for those strangers who were struggling to keep their families together amid terrible circumstances had become an important priority in their life.

            The volunteers describe the kind of work they were doing in some detail. The work ranged from dry walling, gutting, painting, mudding and framing new homes. The work was hard and at times methodical but rewarding. During the volunteers’ time working on the homes they were also able to interact with some of the homeowners who were also there rebuilding their homes. This slight interaction with the people of New Orleans helped the volunteers see firsthand the work they were doing was not just needed but appreciated.   

Not just names anymore

March 17

            I am becoming more familiar with the workers of these different organizations. They have now gone from just names on a list of faceless people to caring and devoted human beings who have a desire to help as many people as they can during their stay. I know my assignment from Dr. Manning was to organize and decipher and assure the documentation for each one of the workers is in order but I cannot help but be just a little curious at what some of those videos and audio files are all about. I’m sure he won’t mind if I just listen in; it is part of my learning experience after all.

            Now I am beginning to feel like I know just a little more about what motivated some of these helpers while others still do not know why they are there aside from a strong desire to lend a helping hand to a community that was in need. The need was greater than any one person in New Orleans and just by listening to some of the audio interviews one can begin to feel that the helpers really did not know what to expect when they arrived in New Orleans. What these workers received was a sobering dose of a devastating reality that the news cameras did not show us and what the reporters just skimmed over. Humanity, completely devastated, a way of life that was in danger of disappearing; now how would the workers cope?   

The Workers

March 12, 2014

As I go through more of the groups that invaded New Orleans since the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina I see names of men and women who through the various organizations are in this ravaged part of the Southern United States to help strangers. This is still about the survivors; the survivors from the many non-for profit organizations that survived their stay in New Orleans during a time of uncertainty and chaos. Right now they are just on a list of names just as foreign to me as the strangers they are in New Orleans to help.

There are eighteen organizations that I have begun syphoning through. The questions that are asked are basically the same to all the participants but their biographical data is diverse. The workers come from different parts of the country and the organizations are diverse as well. Organizations such as Helping Hands, Rebuilding Together: New Orleans, Project Homecoming and Safe Streets: Strong Communities are just a few of the organizations that participated in this oral history project. The workers are just as different as these organizations and they all have different missions but the same goal; to help the displaced people of New Orleans come home again.  

 

NOLA:Slow and Tedious

February 27, 2014

            My work continues on the document organization for the NOLA project. I have already confused myself 4 different times and did extra work because I forgot to mark down two organizations that I had already reviewed. What I believed might just be busy work and would be a breeze to get through has turned into a challenging task. While I’m about half way through the organizations listed (yes only half!) it has become clear that this project will take me longer than I anticipated because within every organization listed there are sub-sections and then more sub-sections. Do not get me wrong I am enjoying this work because as I go through the documentation I pause to listen to some of the interviews and attempt to understand what these people have been suffering through for years.

            I am working on an oral history of some of the survivors of Katrina and this is still history even though it happened less than a decade ago. Therefore, I have to try and see what happened through the eyes of others in order to let others know what happened 8 years ago as well as what is still happening today. As with any history you have to pull yourself out of your comfort zone and some of the judgmental beliefs you may have harbored. This is my journey into my attempt to be a historian and trying to understand the situation as it has been presented. This is not the news media sensationalizing a tragic event or pointing fingers and playing the blame game. These are real people who are enlightening me with every document and recording I see and hear.   

NOLA: Reviewing and Learning

February 23, 2014

I finally finished reviewing the nineteen different organizations that Dr. Manning is attempting to get in order. Some of these organizations are Bayou Rebirth, Black Men United, Gulf Restoration Network, Habitat for Humanity, Hands On, One Brick, Project Homecoming and Safe Streets: Strong Communities just to name a few. My job began here; I needed to go through each organization and check to see if all the paperwork was attached to all the interviews. When I say paperwork I mean in particular the Deed of Gift which grants Dr. Manning as well as Loyola University Chicago permission to use the information obtained from the interviewee.  

This is very time consuming but it is not all just paper checking. I am expected to organize all this information in some form of coherent and easy to follow guide which is also easily accessed. As I previously stated I have reviewed the different organizations but have not yet gone into depth into checking for the required documents. However, I have listened to a few interviews which is probably why I originally got sidetracked on the whole document thing. I have listened to just a handful of the interviews and regardless of what I stated in my last blog about having experience listening and dealing with trauma this is different. These people feel abandoned and left to figure things out for themselves. I would have to say that my experience with the tragedies and disappointments of the people I have helped are very different than what the people of New Orleans had to deal with. It is definitely an apples and oranges comparison; lesson learned on my part; never assume that you have seen or heard it all because someone’s story in New Orleans after Katrina has definitely trumped anything I have experienced thus far.        

NOLA:Concerns

Hello again,                                                                                                                   Feb. 20, 2014

I know it has been a long time since I posted a blog but that was due to some very hectic schedules for Dr. Manning and me. Once I met with Dr. Manning he laid out his expectations for the NOLA project I will be working on. The project consists of interviews with Hurricane Katrina survivors as well as people helping those survivors. Dr. Manning advised me that some of the interviews I would be transcribing would be graphic and he expressed his concerns about my possible reaction to what I heard or read.

I spoke frankly with Dr. Manning and relayed to him that I was sturdier than I looked. I have worked in law enforcement in one capacity or another for over twenty years and felt that I was fairly well equipped for my assignment. I would have to say that I am pretty well versed when it comes to tragedy, despair, malicious acts and the deprivation of humanity. This is a depressing statement yet it echoes what so many people experienced in New Orleans in the days leading to the landfall of Katrina as well as its immediate aftermath. It is fair to say that even eight years after the catastrophic event the people of New Orleans are still attempting to recover emotionally as well as financially. In all fairness not everything happens in the French Quarter and it appears the people in the rural areas surrounding New Orleans’ famed French Quarter are still suffering the effects of local as well as federal agencies that have done little to help in their recovery.

NOLA: An Oral History

Hello,

My name is Maria Downen, I am a senior and I am beginning my internship with Loyola University Chicago's History Department. I am excited to begin this journey and share it with you. I will be working on an oral history project, doing research, transcription and maybe even an interview. This is a whole new aspect to history for me which involves much more than reading books. I will get to experience first hand how to develop an oral history and share my discoveries on my weekly blog. I hope to learn much more this upcoming semester in a subject that I find truly fascinating and satisfying. It is the love of history that has brought me to this point in my studies as well as in my life. The triumphs that have been accomplished as well as the mistakes that have marred our history make for an intriguing journey of discovery. This is how I view history; the discovery of all the new questions that are waiting to be asked, and so many answers to such questions that in fact just lead us to more questions. Questions that I hope to find some answers to someday.