From the Ground Up: Montana Women and Agriculture Oral History Seminar

"From the Ground Up" is a six-hour seminar that will teach community educators and leaders how to engage teenagers in the art of collecting oral histories on the women who ranch and farm in their county.

Shelby, MT: June 5, 2012,9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Register by May 31, 2012

Helena, MT: June 28, 2012, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Register by June 22, 2012

Registration Fee:  $15

Rich Aarstad, Oral Historian at the Montana Historical Society will teach participants how to engage students in the preparation of conducting an oral history focusing on the “Five Rs:”

• Research, so they have a basic understanding of the topic and individual they will be interviewing; 
• Rapport, to establish a working relationship with the individual being interviewed so that they trust the interviewer and are willing to share their story/stories; 
• Restraint, or the art of knowing that the interview is about the narrator; 
• Retreat, or understanding when the interview is a wrap; 
• Review, ensuring that all the steps and procedures are covered so that the interview will be properly conducted and the master copy legally owned by the proper repository.

Katie Beall, from the Montana State Library, will introduce participants to the Montana Memory Project--a statewide digitization project that will enable students and educators to work in collaboration with their local libraries to preserve and share valuable oral histories.

To register, contact: Linda Brander, MT Department of Natural Resources & Conservation (406) 444-0520, LLbrander@mt.gov. UPDATE: Online registration now available at http://dnrc.mt.gov/cardd/ConservationDistricts/OralHistoryProject/Default.asp.

Attendees will earn six OPI Renewal Units. The workshop is sponsored by your local conservation district, Montana Department of Natural Resources & Conservation, Montana Historical Society, Montana State Library,  Montana Stock Growers Association.