Participation Type
Poster
Session Title
Poster
Presentation #1 Title
Gathering the Stories of Appalachian Foodways: An Oral History Research Project
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
My poster is about my research project through Berea College this past summer that focused on the study of Appalachian Foodways through oral histories. I collected oral histories of older Appalachians through recorded interviews and then transcribed the interviews so they can be placed in the Berea College Sound Archives. The questions asked were about gardening, farming, food preparation, and preservation methods, looking at both earlier memories from childhood up to current practices, enabling us to see the changes occurring within the foodways. I had previously taken a course entitled Appalachian Foodways that introduced me to the information that I gathered in the interviews. This enabled me to ask intelligent questions about Appalachian foodways and gave me an understanding of Appalachian history in relation to food. Before collecting the oral histories, I read other materials on Appalachian foodways, learned about the ethics of oral histories, and learned how to properly ask ethnographic questions. The actual interviews were conducted with just one interviewee at a time in order to allow each person to explain his or her own experience. They were all recorded and some interviewees provided pictures and/or recipes. I transcribed the interviews, and the recording, transcription, photographs and recipes will be placed in the Archives.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Barbara Hollstein is a Berea College senior from Michigan. She is a Women’s and Gender Studies major with a minor in History.
Gathering the Stories of Appalachian Foodways: An Oral History Research Project
My poster is about my research project through Berea College this past summer that focused on the study of Appalachian Foodways through oral histories. I collected oral histories of older Appalachians through recorded interviews and then transcribed the interviews so they can be placed in the Berea College Sound Archives. The questions asked were about gardening, farming, food preparation, and preservation methods, looking at both earlier memories from childhood up to current practices, enabling us to see the changes occurring within the foodways. I had previously taken a course entitled Appalachian Foodways that introduced me to the information that I gathered in the interviews. This enabled me to ask intelligent questions about Appalachian foodways and gave me an understanding of Appalachian history in relation to food. Before collecting the oral histories, I read other materials on Appalachian foodways, learned about the ethics of oral histories, and learned how to properly ask ethnographic questions. The actual interviews were conducted with just one interviewee at a time in order to allow each person to explain his or her own experience. They were all recorded and some interviewees provided pictures and/or recipes. I transcribed the interviews, and the recording, transcription, photographs and recipes will be placed in the Archives.
