"How To Do an Oral History Interview"
Many people can vividly recall life on the home front in Nebraska during World War II. One way historians gather information is by interviewing people about their experiences. Interview someone from your community-a family member, a neighbor, a teacher-who was about your age during World War II. Here are some questions you might ask them. Share your interview with you class.
- Where did you live during World War II?
- How old were you during World War II?
- Where were you when you heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor?
- How did rationing work? What was hardest to do without?
- Did you make a victory garden?
- Did you collect scrap materials? What kinds of things did you collect?
- In what other ways did you support the war effort?
- How did you keep up on the news of the war overseas? Did you do anything special to keep track of the war news, like keeping a scrapbook?
- How much time did you spend in school talking about the war?
- How did the war affect your family? Did any members of your immediate family go overseas?
- What one thing do you recall most often when you think of those years?
- How did World War II change your life?
