Concord voices make up oral history program at library
1 October 2011
Concord — Through the Concord Oral History Program, Renee Garrelick documented the thoughts and memories of Concord residents for 30 years. When she died in 2007, approximately 300 oral histories, most including photographs and audio, had been compiled.
Oral history interviewees include people representing every aspect of Concord life: business, education, government, religion, and the arts. Among them are farmers, teachers, small business owners, CEOs, writers, artists, musicians, historians, physicians, physicists, and those involved in town government. There are conservationists, environmentalists and naturalists, clergy, residents of Concord’s well-documented Conantum neighborhood, public safety officials, craftsmen, builders and developers. They include those who have spent a lifetime living and working within the confines of the town; others who lived in far-flung locations around the globe before settling in Concord.
A sampling of interviews include members of the Anderson and Wheeler families talking about early 20th century farming, Jean Bell and Di Clymer discussing prison outreach, Marion Thornton describing her work preserving the town’s open space, and Gordon Robinson on his life and times as the proprietor of the Willow Pond Kitchen.
Subjects are not necessarily confined to life in Concord. In 1986 Peter Benes and other immigrants to the United States described their reaction upon seeing the Statue of Liberty for the first time. A number of Concordians had life-altering experiences during World War II: Carola Domar, Elizabeth Dopazo, Sonia Weitz, Norman Beecher and Henry Wilayto among them. Lifelong resident Phebe Ham offers observations on education in China after traveling there twice to teach, while Joe Wheeler, his roots many generations deep in Concord history, talks about working for the U.S. government in the Middle East and Pakistan.
The depth and intensity of these experiences is tempered by lighter moments, as interviewees meander among youthful memories of West Concord baseball games, sledding on Nashawtuc Hill, and swimming in Lake Walden.
Taken together, the depth and breadth of the information contained in the words of these Concordians create a history of the town and the world beyond, colored by the feeling and emotion conveyed by memory and the human voice.
Transcripts, audiotapes, and photographs can be accessed at the Concord Free Public Library’s William Munroe Special Collections.
The Fowler branch is currently hosting an exhibit featuring the oral histories of a selection of West Concordians.
Since 2008, Concord Oral History Program has been managed by the Concord Free Public Library and interviews conducted by an outside contractor. The program has recently taken a digital turn as Special Collections staff works to digitize the materials and mount them on the oral history page of the library’s Website.
Read more: Concord voices make up oral history program at library - Concord, MA - The Concord Journal http://www.wickedlocal.com/concord/archive/x1804871502/Concord-voices-make-up-oral-history-program-at-library#ixzz1YwMw0rTd
Number of Visits: 6141
The latest
- Practical Models for Simulating Texts in Distinguished, Signature Styles, Under the Use of AI Tools in Resistance Literature
- A Recollection by Ali Tahiri of a Military maneuver
- 100 Questions/17
- Third Regiment: Memoirs of an Iraqi Prisoner of War Doctor – 17
- Oral History News of December-January 2026
- Analyzing the Impact of Sacred Defense Memories on the New Generation: Usage in Transmitting Values
- The Sha‘baniyya Uprising as Narrated by Ali Tahiri
- 100 Questions/16
Most visited
- Oral History News of December-January 2026
- Third Regiment: Memoirs of an Iraqi Prisoner of War Doctor – 16
- The Sha‘baniyya Uprising as Narrated by Ali Tahiri
- Analyzing the Impact of Sacred Defense Memories on the New Generation: Usage in Transmitting Values
- 100 Questions/16
- Third Regiment: Memoirs of an Iraqi Prisoner of War Doctor – 17
- A Recollection by Ali Tahiri of a Military maneuver
- 100 Questions/17
Oral History of 40 Years
One of the main hypotheses regarding the reason for the growth and expansion of oral history in the modern era relates to the fact that oral history is the best tool for addressing lesser-known topics of contemporary history. Topics that, particularly because little information is available about them, have received less attention.Omissions in the Editing of Oral History
After the completion of interview sessions, the original recordings are archived, the interviews are transcribed, proofread, and re-listened to. If the material possesses the qualities required for publication in the form of an article or a book, the editing process must begin. In general, understanding a verbatim transcription of an interview is often not straightforward and requires editing so that it may be transformed into a fluent, well-documented text that is easy to comprehend.100 Questions/8
We asked several researchers and activists in the field of oral history to express their views on oral history questions. The names of each participant are listed at the beginning of their answers, and the text of all answers will be published on this portal by the end of the week. The goal of this project is to open new doors to an issue and promote scientific discussions in the field of oral history.The Role of Objects in Oral Narrative
Philosophers refer to anything that exists—or possesses the potential to exist—as an object. This concept may manifest in material forms, abstract notions, and even human emotions and lived experiences. In other words, an object encompasses a vast spectrum of beings and phenomena, each endowed with particular attributes and characteristics, and apprehensible in diverse modalities.
