writing_womans_lives_symposium_paper_book_v2

initiative, since oral history sources more and more become available in a digital form and thus data
become reusable. It even becomes very easy to make a connection with the various research topics
within the digital humanities. The digital humanities do have a very strong and solid infrastructure for
textual sources. The availability of audio visual sources for humanities studies is still underdeveloped.
Having a virtual platform in place could be a good starting point to create a corpus of oral history
data that is sustainable and trustworthy enough to serve as a source for research in the digital
humanities and in other disciplines. The universities aim to work with cultural heritage institutions
that already have a track record in creating oral history interviews, such as Atria. The whole idea is
still in development. But if it all works out well a request for funding for a research infrastructure will
go out in the fall of 2014. And Atria hopes to be partnering in this project. Not only to share the
expertise on oral history, but also to keep the women’s history alive. 11
In 2010, on the occasion of the 70 th anniversary of the IAV‐collection, an oral history congress was
held at Aletta (the old name of Atria’s library and archive) in Amsterdam. The leading thread was the
notion that an oral history source always is a ‘moving’ source. Moving in the sense that the relation
with the past changes constantly, but also that the interpretation of the story can reveal itself in ever
changing layers of meaning. Therefore it is of great importance to safeguard oral history sources for
the long term, and to make them accessible in a good way. New generations of researchers will find
new elements in the interaction between interviewee and interviewer. 12 Oral history interviews, if
conducted and safeguarded in a proper way, and placed in a broader context, are a great source to
make a track record of the lives of women that influenced our history. Or, referring to the title of this
article I could say: oral history keeps a track record of “the way she walks and the way she talks.”
How this works, is nicely put in words in the song Susie Q., which became a hit in 1968, performed
by Clearance Clearwater Revival. It originated from 1957, when it was sung by Dale Hawkins. The
song tells about a girl the singer fell in love with, especially because of the way she walks and the way
she talks. If you have the opportunity, take a look and listen to the version from the Rolling Stones in
1964. It is available on YouTube. 13
Once you did, you will have noticed that even in the re‐mastered version of this video clip the
movement of Mick Jagger’s mouth and the sound of his voice do not run synchronously. And when
you translate this again to the oral history practice, you will understand why it is important to really
create a good set of standards for the long term preservation of oral history interviews: it is to get
the mouth and the voice of interviewees in the interviews which are conducted in our time, running
more synchronously than is the case with Mick Jagger in that 1964‐clip.
Keywords: Oral history , Women’s history, Standards and practice, Atria, Netherlands
Ingeborg VERHEUL
I.Verheul@atria.nl
Notes
1
Biography of Aletta Henriëtte Jacobs.
http://www.atria.nl/atria/zoek/ead_popup.jsp?id=IIAV00000081&lang=0#N10056//www.
(accessed June 29, 2014).
2
Three influential women in the early 20th century women's movements are seen walking in
front of the Brandenburg Gate, in Berlin, during World War I. On the left is American Jane
Addams, co‐founder of Hull House in Chicago and President of the newly formed Women's
International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). In the middle is Alice Hamilton, a close
associate of Addams in the Hull House project. The third woman is Dutch pacifist, feminist and
suffragette Aletta Jacobs, also involved with founding of the WILPF. (Note: Film shot by
photographer William H. Durborough). http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675026876_Laura‐
Jane‐Addams_buildings_umbrella_people (accessed: June 29, 2014).
3
www.atria.nl (accessed June 29, 2014).
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