Analysis: Touch and Go: A Memoir and A Shared Authorit: Essays on the Craft and Meaning of Oral and Public History

This week’s readings both, in a way, highlight some of the concrete themes of this course: Terkel looks at making history personal through his practice of oral history, whereas Frisch examines the idea of shared authority and collaboration among the public and historians. Both, in a less obvious manner, emphasize the construction of history from the bottom-up. And, much like Presence of the Past, they illustrate that history is generated from biographical memory and from personal history and past.

Studs Terkel’s memoir was the more entertaining reading, filled with tangents and obscure references to a day long passed – what’s not to like. (It reminded me of watching Golden Girls and not exactly following the political or social commentary of the time, but loving it all the same.)

What is clearly important to Terkel is the history, or more importantly the story, of people, regardless of status. It seems that Terkel was more interested in the story of the ordinary person. His book includes glimpses into his lifelong work – oral histories and interviews of people often overlooked, but whom he considered just as important to our collective memory and national story. Terkel's individual experiences and personal stories trace and intertwines with a larger narrative of major historical events of the past century, such as the Depression, the rise of major political and cultural figures, elections, the struggles of the past, McCarthyism, wars, and so on.

Terkel’s memoir is the ramblings of a man who has spoken with men and women, both ordinary and extraordinary, who effortlessly weaves the events of his past into our lives, as well as the lives of others long passed. Having read the Good War in a previous class I can appreciate the style of Terkel’s work. Where often he is criticized for not including his questions in the transcript of interviews, it allows the reader an uninterrupted and unobstructed view into their memories and past experiences – much like Studs accomplishes in his memoir.

Michael Frisch gathers a collection of his book reviews, essays, and case studies to drive home an examination of oral history and public history and explores several issues surrounding them. Although I appreciate the wide range of writings, I had a hard time finding the cohesion between them all. At times, it made his message a bit muddled. Although I think his headnotes and introductions did help in establishing a sense of relation.

On the other hand, I enjoyed his presentation through the several different types of articles and reviews. Each of which highlight the importance of sharing authority, as well as criticizing and illustrating some of the challenges present in both fields. I personally found the case studies to be the most interesting. It was nice to have a break in rhythm every now and then. Then again, I do enjoy history education, which is what that first case study looks at in great detail.

These two books, again, introduce this idea of, well, shared authority. It discusses the theme of collaboration, joint ownership, an underlying theme of this course that began on day one with our first readings. These books, especially Frisch’s, also highlight several other relevant themes – collective memory, official history versus vernacular history, which has the authority, and the belief that history is personal.