Talk to your Elders – Before it’s too Late
With the Memorial Day having just passed and the attention the media has given to D-Day with President Obama’s visit to Normandy, I am renewing a plea. Interview or at least talk to the elders in your life. History is so important; the significance of oral history should never be questioned. Look at Alex Haley’s Roots whose discovery of his ancestors and origins came through oral history and started a revolution..
Today, on CNN a WWII veteran talked for the first time in his life about his landing on D-Day. He is 90 years old and had been an officer, commanding 250 troops. Only 23 of them survived. He described the horrors of the parachute landings on Omaha Beach and the helplessness he felt as hands and legs flew past him and his troops begged for aid he was helpless to give. No historian’s reconstructed account can give the flavor, the feelings, or the authenticity as well as someone who was actually there.
Fortunately, AdC reviewer Lani Roberts, whose father was one of the first original Tuskegee Airmen, has had some of her dad’s life well documented, though it took an embarrassingly long time for our country to acknowledge the contributions of these brave men. I’m certain Colonel Roberts had more stories to tell, though, tales that didn’t make it into the movie because they might prove to be too embarrassing to reveal. Lani’s mom is 90 and is a walking, astute historian who was there to see it all. I’m pressing her daughter to get someone to write it all down. Can you imagine what a best seller that would be?
My husband’s uncle Jesse passed away last year, but on one of my visits to see him in the VA hospital, he told me about a near accident in Los Angeles. (He had been a chauffer to several well-known movie stars–I should have gotten some of those tales.) On this particular day he was driving down the street and suddenly a man darted from between parked cars into his oncoming path. Jesse slammed on the brakes, but his car actually touched the man. The man looked up, and Jesse said the man was furious, as if Jesse was the reason for the near accident. That man was Nat King Cole. Jesse laughingly related that he wanted to ask him for an autograph but maybe that wasn’t the best time.
My husband’s other uncle George played saxophone in the bands of notables like Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Coutie Brown. He knew Ella Fitzgerald and sometimes accompanied Dinah Washington. He had some pretty risqué tales to tell about his time on the circuit. Did you know that when an African American or mixed band played in the South they were not allowed to face their audience? Did you know that was the reason why Miles Davis turned his back to his audience when he performed no matter where he played?
We listen to their stories, sometimes with fascination, sometimes with disinterest. So what if you’ve heard the story a dozen times before. If you listen long enough, you will learn something and you will be entertained. Do you know how flattered that elder will be that someone is interested enough in him or her to ask, “Tell me. What is the most significant historical event you remember?”
Now that I’m on the downside of half a century, I have come to realize the importance of oral history. We, as journalists, have a responsibility to commit those stories to paper, in or blog…or they die. As a baby boomer, I can honestly say that my life has been rich with history. As a pre-teen, I saw John and Robert Kennedy walking less than half a block away from me with a small entourage going in and out of buildings in downtown Charleston, West Virginia. I knew who they were but being the shy kid I was, I did not approach them, merely watched in awe. They were campaigning, but from what I had heard from listening to the grown-ups, it was a waste of time, for Catholics didn’t have a chance of winning the presidency. What stood out to me the most, however, is that they had red hair, a trait one could not see on even the most modern black and white TV.
What is the most significant historical event that happened in your life? In your grandmother’s life? Ask them before it’s too late and share it with me. I’d love to hear about it.
Louise.