Former history librarian Susan Hoffman described Oral History as:”the ultimate example of grass roots social history.”
This episode of Station to Station focuses on the voices from the past, preserved in the Oral History Tape Collection at the Kitchener Public Library. (KPL) The voices you hear share their every day life experiences in the community, while others share stories of international journeys. You will hear the stories of two women who were in the same room with former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill; another who describes starting her life as a writer in the 1930s; a former Mayor who made a deal with the South during the American Civil War; and another who fought in the Spanish Civil War.
To guide you, are four individuals connected to the KPL program: history librarian, Karen Ball-Pyatt; former history librarian, Susan Hoffman; and former interviewers, Frances Hoffman and Dr. Andrew Thomson.
You can listen to the full interview above or download it on iTunes or SoundCloud
Here is a list of other oral history links that may interest you. If you know of any others, please pass them on.
- What to consider when starting your own Oral History assignment.
- Canadian WW2 veterans
- Women in War series
- American WW2 veterans
- Kitchener Public Library
- British Library Oral History
- Ellis Island New York
- Oral History Centre
- Oral History Association
- Pier 21
- New York Public Library
- 911 memorial
Station to Station with Joe Pavia 
July 16, 2016 at 1:07 pm
Thanks to a recent conversation with a friend and Kitchener historian rych mills,I have new information regarding Episode 13: The Oral History Collection.
At the 33 minute mark Edna Staebler speaks of encounters with a Bill Mitchell from Macleans Magazine. She indicates she spent the weekend with Bill and his wife Merna. As well, she explains how Bill introduced her to the man a generation would know as Canadian author/historian Pierre Berton. It turns out the Bill Mitchell she speaks of would become a well known Canadian author himself, and later referred to as the Mark Twain of Canada.
Bill Mitchell’s pen name was W.O.Mitchell, the author of iconic Canadian books as Who has seen the Wind and Jake and the Kid. I never knew, or obviously forgot what W.O. stood for because the high school English class nickname he was given was ‘Whoa Mitchell’.
Thanks rych.
Joe
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