True Stories: Practicing Oral History in Idaho

The lives of ordinary people can contain romantic moments, frightening incidents, sale tales, breathtaking escapes, and sudden twists of fate. Are you thinking of interviewing your grandmother? Would you like to save community stories for future generations? Kathy Hodges will lead a discussion about memory, story, and story, and explain some of the basics of recording and preserving oral narratives, using examples from the 2500-plus interviews in the Idaho State Historical Society’s collection. Programs and/or workshops can vary in length and seriousness, from an entertaining hour to a full day of real training for interviewers and community historians.

Idaho’s Mexican American History (A Slide Presentation)

Mexican Americans have lived in Idaho since at least the 1860’s, and there is documented evidence of distinct Mexican communities throughout Idaho history. Californios drawn to Idaho’s gold rush made a living as miners, mule packers, and vaqueros. During and after World War I, Mexicans fled the violence of a revolution at home, coming to Idaho to work in an expanding agricultural economy. During World War II, Mexican braceros work in an expanding agricultural economy. During World War II, Mexican braceros helped harvest Idaho’s crops, maintain railroads, and fight forest fires, while the Mexican Air Force trained in Pocatello. In the 1950s, Mexican Americans from Texas found jobs in Idaho’s new food processing industry, as well as work in the fields. By the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, as the state’s economy diversified, many people of Latino descent opened their own businesses or entered professions.