"Catching Lightning in a Bottle:"
Documenting Science, Technology & Innovation Through Oral History
- Date: Wednesday, April 28, 2010 & Thursday, April 29, 2010
- Location: Charles Sumner School Museum and Archives, 1201 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC
- Sponsor: OHMAR (Oral History in the Mid-Atlantic Region)
- Contact: ohmar.conference@gmail.com
- Call for Papers
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REGISTRATION
To register, please download the registration form, available in the following formats:
HTML or Word Document |
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SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
(Additional information will be posted as it becomes available. Check this page often for the latest information on the conference.)
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| Wednesday, April 28, 2010 |
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| Registration and Continental Breakfast 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM |
| Room: Gallery G-3, Ground Floor |
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| Morning Workshop Session 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM |
| Room: Gallery G-4, Ground Floor |
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| "A Picture and a Thousand Words: Adding Video to an Oral History Program" |
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Brien Williams will lead a half-day workshop designed to discuss and demonstrate the technical, aesthetic, and social aspects of incorporating video in oral history projects. The workshop is designed primarily for those already experienced in doing oral history who are adding video to their repertoire or considering doing so. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own cameras and equipment for evaluation and practice, if they wish.
Brien Williams is an oral historian and video producer. He is currently conducting interviews for the George Mitchell Oral History Project at Bowdoin College, Maine, and directed a similar project for the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas with members of Congress and senate staff. He has also interviewed members of Congress for the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress. Formerly Dr. Williams was historian of the American Red Cross responsible for the study and dissemination of Red Cross history and for a national Red Cross Oral History Program. Dr. Williams has been an independent video producer, writer, and director. Clients have included government agencies, private corporations, and members of the Washington political and legal communities. He served as contract video producer for the Smithsonian Videohistory Project and the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation on videotaped studies of leading scientists and inventors. He received his Ph.D. in Radio-Television-Film from Northwestern University and taught media production and theory at Indiana and George Washington universities. He was the 2009 recipient of OHMAR's Forrest Pogue award.
This workshop is limited to 20 attendees. |
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| Lunch on your own 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM |
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| Afternoon Workshop Session 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM |
| Room: Gallery G-4, Ground Floor |
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| "Oral History 101: So How Do You Catch Lightning in a Bottle?" |
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The Urban Dictionary describes this wonderful expression as follows:
"Capturing something powerful and elusive and then being able to hold it and show it to the world."
This is the work of oral historians. We have a unique, not-to-be-squandered opportunity to help our subjects look beneath the tangible surface and capture the true richness of their stories.
Drawing on the topic of this conference, and her own 15 years as an oral historian documenting dance (certainly one of the most elusive subjects around), Susan Kraft will explore with workshop participants our intentions as oral historians and how we might most effectively achieve them. This three-hour workshop will focus mainly on interview techniques and project design. It is suitable for oral historians new to the field as well as those seeking to hone their skills.
Since 1993, Susan Kraft has served as the Coordinator of the Dance Oral History Project and Archive of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy & Lewis B. Cullman Center. Under her guidance, the Dance Oral History Project and Archive has developed into the most significant dance oral history collection in the world. Ms. Kraft is also known for her work as a dance columnist and as a freelance writer and researcher. She holds a Master's Degree from New York University and a Bachelor's Degree from Oberlin College.
This workshop is limited to 20 attendees. |
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| Tour of the National Geographic Society 3:30 PM to 4:45 PM |
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OHMAR conference registrants will have an opportunity to take a tour of the National Geographic Society (adjacent to the Sumner School), beginning at 3:30 PM. The first portion of the visit will be an "insider's view" of the museum and archives, guided by an NGS staff member; participants will then be able to explore the museum at their leisure. This tour is limited to 20 people. |
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| OHMAR Reception 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM
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Beacon Bar & Grill
1615 Rhode Island Avenue Northwest
Washington, DC 20036-3205
Complimentary drinks and appetizers for conference registrants; $15 for guests |
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| Thursday, April 29, 2010 |
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| Registration and Continental Breakfast 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM |
| Room: Gallery G-3, Ground Floor |
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| Plenary Session 8:30 AM to 9:15 AM |
| Room: Lecture Hall 102, First Floor |
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| "Diving into the World of Jacques Cousteau" -- Renee Braden |
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Renee Braden, OHMAR President and Manager, Archives & Special Collections, at the National Geographic Society, will present on her unit's contributions to the forthcoming NGS exhibit on Jacques Cousteau, whose pioneering career embodies the spirit of the OHMAR Spring 2010 Conference. Braden will discuss the integration of audio material into the exhibit, the challenges her department has overcome in preparing the materials and even share a sneak peek at some of the artifacts in her collection with those in attendance. |
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| Early Morning Parallel Presentation Sessions 9:20 AM to 10:50 AM |
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| Panel 1 |
Putting Scientists to Good Use: (Re-)Creating Scientific History with the Stories Scientists Did and Did Not Tell |
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Gallery G-2, Ground Floor |
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The End of "Eureka!": Normalizing Discovery in Laboratory Practice, David J. Caruso |
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Women in Chemistry: Talking about Career and Family, Hilary Domush |
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Emergence of an Industry: Rubber and Polymers in World War II, Sarah Hunter |
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The Private Face of Public Science, Erica Stefanovich |
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Moderator: Roger Horowitz, Center for the History of Business, Technology, and Society,
Hagley Museum and Library |
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| Panel 2 |
Using Oral History to Document the Growth of Scientific Disciplines and Organizations |
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Gallery G-4, Ground Floor |
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Museum Lives: Putting the Scientists Under the Microscope, Sue Hawkins, Kingston University London |
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The Role of Oral Histories in the History of Technical Societies, David Hochfelder, History Department, University at Albany |
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Oral History Read and Spoken: Collecting and Reading the History of Human Remains and Physical Anthropology in the United States, Samuel J. Redman, University of California, Berkeley |
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Moderator: Renee Braden, National Geographic Society |
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| Mid-Morning Parallel Presentation Sessions 10:55 AM to 12:25 PM |
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| Panel 1 |
Oral History at the Intersection of Science, Technology and Our Society |
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Gallery G-2, Ground Floor |
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Virginia Environmental Endowment (1977-Present), Mary Virginia S. Currie, Virginia Historical Society |
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History in Real Time: the Contemporaneous Archives, Genya O'Gara, North Carolina State University Libraries |
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Physicians in Transition: The Voice of Rural Physicians in Response to Electronic Medical Records, Susan M. Wieczorek, University of Pittsburgh |
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Moderator: Jan Herman, Navy Bureau of Medicine |
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| Panel 2 |
From Idea to Reality and Beyond: Oral History and the Development of Inventions |
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Gallery G-4, Ground Floor |
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Destroyers, Shatterers, or Saviors of Worlds: Scientists at the Crossroads, James Deutsch, Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage |
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Deterrents, Retaliations, and Turkey Feathers: Recovering the History of America's Anti-Crop Warfare Program (1950-1980), George H. Gittinger, Department of Communication, University of Pittsburgh |
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Oral Histories and the Development of the Liquid Crystal Display, Benjamin Gross, Princeton University |
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Moderator: John Lonnquest,
US Army Corps of Engineers |
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| Pogue Award Luncheon 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM (Cost for non-conference registrants: $20) |
| Room: The Great Hall (301), Third Floor |
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OHMAR is proud to announce that distinguished oral historian Anne G. Ritchie will receive the 2010 Forrest Pogue Award, OHMAR's highest honor, during the Association's spring conference and meeting in Washington, DC. Since 1990, she has been the senior archivist and oral historian at the National Gallery of Art. She has been active in regional, national and international oral history organizations, having served as president of OHMAR and the Oral History Association and vice president of the International Oral History Association.
Ritchie received her Master of Arts degrees in History and Library & Information Science from the University of Kentucky. While working at the University of Kentucky Libraries from 1977 to 1988, she directed oral history projects on a variety of topics including the Frontier Nursing Service, John Jacob Niles, and the Christian Appalachian Project. After moving to the Washington area in 1988, she conducted interviews for a community oral history project in Charles County, Maryland. Between 1990 and 1995, she was also a project interviewer for the Washington Press Club Foundation Women in Journalism Oral History Project. |
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| OHMAR Business Meeting (Open to all OHMAR members) 2:00 PM to 2:25 PM |
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Afternoon Presentation Session 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM |
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| Panel 1 |
Oral History and Technology in the Federal Government |
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Lecture Hall 102, First Floor |
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"Tuned to Channel 3": The Recent Evolution of Technology in the House of Representatives, Albin J. Kowalewski, Office of History and Preservation, U.S. House of Representatives |
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The Human Factor: Technological Innovation in the Modern Senate, Katherine Scott, U.S. Senate |
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Moderator: Shaun Illingworth, Rutgers Oral History Archives, Rutgers University |
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About the Presenters |
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| David Caruso earned a B.A. in the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology from Johns Hopkins University in 2001 and a Ph.D. in Science and Technology Studies from Cornell University in 2007. His dissertation research focused on the interaction of American military and medical personnel from the Spanish-American War through World War I and the institutional transformations that resulted in the rise of American military medicine as a unique form of knowledge and practice. David is the program manager for the Chemical Heritage Foundation's oral history program. His current research interests are the discipline formation of biomedical science in 20th-century America and the organizational structures that have contributed to such formation. |
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Mary Virginia S. Currie has been the business history archivist at the Virginia Historical Society since 2002. In her work, she solicits Virginia businesses to locate their archival records in the Virginia Historical Society's collection and, in doing so, manages large oral history projects related to industry. Around 275 interviews have been added to the holdings of the society through her efforts with employees at companies such as Reynolds Metals Company, A.H. Robins Co., Lane Co., and Bottled Gas of Virginia and individual entrepreneurs. Currie holds three degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her master's thesis focused on Romeo Holland Guest, a Greensboro, NC, builder and one of several visionaries behind the Research Triangle Park (RTP) in central North Carolina over six decades ago, whom she interviewed, along with other early participants in the RTP's development. |
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| James Deutsch is a writer, editor, and curator at two units of the Smithsonian Institution: the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and the National Museum of African American History and Culture. In addition, he serves as an adjunct professor—teaching courses on American film history—in the American Studies Department at George Washington University. Deutsch has also taught American Studies classes at universities in Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Norway, Poland, and Turkey. Overall, he has held more than 60 different jobs, including: newspaper reporter, librarian, park ranger/forest ranger, census enumerator, and monorail operator at Walt Disney World. |
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| Hilary Domush completed a B.S. in Chemistry at Bates College before earning an M.S. in Organic Chemistry and an M.A. in the History of Science at the University of Wisconsin. As a graduate student, her research focused on 19th-century chemistry in Edinburgh. Hilary is a program associate for the Chemical Heritage Foundation's oral history program, helping to manage the program and conducting oral histories for the Women in Chemistry project. |
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| George H. Gittinger is a first-year Master's/PhD Candidate in Communication at The University of Pittsburgh. His primary research interests include Classical Rhetoric and the Rhetoric of Science, with a particular interest in rhetorical problems that arise when different specialized, technical, or scholarly groups communicate with one another or when such groups communicate with the general public. |
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| Benjamin Gross is a Ph.D. candidate in the history of science program at Princeton University and the 2009–2010 Charles C. Price Dissertation Fellow in Polymer History at the Chemical Heritage Foundation. His dissertation focuses on the development of the first liquid crystal displays at the Radio Corporation of America during the 1960s. Before applying to graduate school, he taught Philadelphia high school students physics and chemistry as a member of Teach for America. |
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| Sue Hawkins is a historian based at Kingston University London. She is currently working as a researcher on two projects: Museum Lives, an AHRC-funded collaborative oral history project with the Natural History Museum London; and a Wellcome-funded project on Victorian children's hospitals. In addition to Museum Lives, other oral history projects she has worked on include an oral history of nursing at St. George's Hospital, London, and a small project to record the memories of retired staff at the prestigious London shop, Fortnum and Mason's, to mark its 300 year celebration. Sue has a PhD in history of nineteenth century nursing and is a member of the Oral History Society in the UK. |
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| David P. Hochfelder is a former electrical engineer turned historian. His main areas of historical research are public history and the history of technology. He is presently completing a book on the history of the American telegraph industry, to be published with Johns Hopkins University Press. After completing this project, he plans to conduct an oral history project documenting the nanotechnology industry in the Hudson River Valley, home to several microchip fabs and the University at Albany's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering. |
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| Sarah Hunter completed an M.S. in Public History at Temple University after earning a B.A. in History at the University of Pennsylvania. Before she joined the Chemical Heritage Foundation as a program assistant for the oral history program, Sarah was the Peregrine Arts' Samuel W. Fels research intern and Hidden City project coordinator. Additionally, she has been the archives intern for Valley Forge National Historic Park and the curatorial assistant intern for the Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site. Sarah's scholarship has focused on the way groups and individuals create, modify, and use their histories through words, objects, landscapes, and memory. |
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Albin J. Kowalewski is Historical Writer/Researcher at the Office of History and Preservation, Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. He received a Master’s degree in American history from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 2009. |
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| Genya O'Gara is a North Carolina State University Libraries Fellow working both in the Special Collections Research Center on the archival project, "Exposing Modern Archival Collections: Documenting Kannapolis" and in the Collection Management Department where she develops collections in order to support the research and teaching needs of the NCSU community. She received her MSLS from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her B.A. from Evergreen State College. |
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| Samuel J. Redman is a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Berkeley. He studies 19th and 20th-century American intellectual and cultural history. His dissertation examines the use of human remains for the purposes of research and display in museums and fairs. He has been in residence at the National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution, since September 2009. He is originally from Red Wing, Minnesota. |
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Katherine Scott is Assistant Historian, United States Senate. She received her Ph.D. from Temple University in 2009. Her dissertation, "Reining in the State: Civil Society, Congress, and the Movement to Democratize the National Security State, 1970-1978," explores the citizens' movement to promote transparency in government, protect the right to privacy, and impose greater democratic controls over the national security state. In researching this project, Scott conducted interviews with former congressional staff, journalists, and ACLU attorneys. |
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| Erica Stefanovich completed an M.S. in Public History with a specialization in archival science at Temple University after earning a B.A. in English and History at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Before joining the Chemical Heritage Foundation as a program assistant for the oral history program, Erica interned for the Philly History Web site archiving images and writing content and for the American Philosophical Society, where she worked with the manuscript collection of geneticist James V. Neel. |
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| Susan M. Wieczorek, a Communication faculty member of the University of Pittsburgh, Johnstown, has explored the effect of media on doctor/patient relationships over the past decade. Her special interest in emailing within secured electronic medical record portals has afforded her publications and presentations for the International Conference for the American Academy of Communication in Healthcare, National Communication Association, Eastern Communication Association, and International Institute for General Semantics. She also has done medical presentations for Notre Dame's John Dewey Society, the West Virginia Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, and the International Congress of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. |
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