Interviewing is a terrific way for students to become involved in their own learning, and some of the most interesting oral histories done by my students have been inspired by Dorothea Lange’s photos. History seems to come alive in the voices of people sharing their past experiences.

Where can students find people to interview? They are among their family, friends, and community. Some of my students have elderly grandparents who experienced the kinds of lives shown in Lange’s photos: one interviewed his elderly grandfather, whose family lost their watermelon farm in the dust storms of Oklahoma; another called her grandfather in Mexico to learn about his work in California’s fields through the former Bracero program; another asked his grandfather what his life had been like as an immigrant farm worker striving for the American Dream. By doing interviews like these, students discover more about their roots and find a new pride in their family’s endurance, survival, and success.

How can we help our students develop thoughtful question for their interviews? Studying published oral histories is one way. Studs Terkel’s interview with Cesar Chavez, for example, offers stories and perceptive insights about how the Chavez family was forced off their land into migrant labor. (This interview is in Terkel’s Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression.) Analyzing this oral history can help students think carefully about the kinds of questions Terkel might have asked, and about the importance of listening thoughtfully and asking leading questions.

When students have finished their interviews, they need to analyze and organize their information, paraphrase and summarize, select good quotes, edit everything, and represent the information in an essay format. They may also have to ask a few more questions, corroborate some facts with the interviewee, and/or do a little research to better understand the history of the time and place under discussion.

By getting involved in interviewing, students gain a deeper understanding of the themes in Dorothea Lange’s photography: being poor, unemployed, displaced, homeless. Oral histories give us insights into circumstances we may never experience, but through stories of endurance and survival, we all gain a deeper sense of our shared humanity.