Somewhere Down the Way: The Marion County Oral History Project

When I first had the idea of doing an oral history project in Marion County, many of the people that I told about it were somewhat skeptical. They weren’t sure if I could get people to talk to me, they weren’t sure if I would find interesting stories, and they were dubious about the very nature of oral history. To be honest, I had my doubts as well. But after spending the past eight weeks in Marion County interacting with the community and hearing the stories of those who live here, all doubt has faded from my mind.

On these walls you will find many different stories that all seek to explore the history of this county and the people who live in it. On these walls, you will find stories of laughter, of adolescent whimsy, and of unfaltering love, but that’s not all that you’ll find. You’ll also find stories of prejudice, of adversity, and of loss. While it can be easy to brush those more difficult stories under the rug, my hope is that you will treat those stories just the same. When a story is joyful, celebrate it with laughter and levity, but when a story is challenging, let yourself be challenged by it.

Logistically, the exhibit is fairly simple. As you walk around the room, you will see many different photographs on large panels. Each photograph is paired with a text panel that features transcriptions of two stories from the person pictured; additionally, each text panel gives a brief biography of that person. Around the room, you will also find four listening stations with CD’s that feature a recording of each person featured in the exhibit along with a track list so that you can easily listen to any person that you’d like. Each text panel will refer you to the proper track listing and story at the bottom of the panel. In the room you will also find a fifth listening station that contains the full archive of all of the interviews that were conducted, along with an index for each interview, so that you can listen to other stories that were not featured in the exhibit.

I would be remiss to write an author’s note without giving thanks where thanks is due. So first off, I would like to thank all of the wonderful people who were interviewed for this exhibit. Your openness, thoughtfulness and candid nature are what make this exhibit shine. While we may have started the summer as interviewer and interviewee, it is my hope that we have ended the summer as friends. Secondly, I would like to thank Rosanne Black and Marshall Vingi—my colleagues at the museum—for their critical support, as well as Wallace Foxworth, for helping me find some wonderful interviewees. I would also like to thank Alma Blount, Dr. Robert Korstad, and the Service Opportunities in Leadership Program at Duke University, which provided invaluable mentoring as well as the funding for this exhibit. I would like to thank the B.N. Duke Memorial Scholarship Fund, without which I never would have come to Marion, and Minda Brooks, for trusting me enough to let me do something new. Lastly, I’d like to dedicate this exhibit to my grandmother and grandfather, Lib and JW Allen, who I miss dearly and thought of constantly throughout this project.

This summer has been an experience that I will not soon forget; I hope that you enjoy and cherish these stories as much as I do.