The CALHN Health Museum is very excited to be undertaking an Oral History project with Professional Oral Historian Sally Stephenson.
The project, funded through a History Trust of South Australia’s MaC Programs Grant, is focusing on staff from the Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre (HRC). Sally, who has more than 15 years of experience in oral histories, has been conducting the interviews with current and former staff, recording their stories of their involvement with the institution.
We have also been receiving training and coaching from Sally, to prepare us as we set out to produce our own oral histories. As part of this, we recently had the opportunity to practice on each other, using the knowledge we have learnt from Sally. Each of us had a go at setting up the equipment, making sure the sound levels were correct, and then asking each other some questions. While some aspects will take some getting used to, we all learnt just how much fun the process can be.
The Museum already has a number of oral histories in the collection, of particular note are those by Joan Durdin, who conducted interview with nurses who had undertook their training at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
For more information about Sally Stephenson’s services and some fantastic general information about oral histories, visit her website: http://listeningtothepast.com.au/
Written by Jonathan Hull, CALHN Health Museum