Besides supplying interpretation and leads about documentary information that I found in any number of repositories, former NPS employees also provided me with a valuable (and probably very unusual) orientation to the agency. Many consultants donated photographs and archival material to the park, generally in conjunction with an interview. The oral history program thus gave management tangible results for funds expended in conducting interviews, well beyond the obvious public relations value to the NPS. More than a few of these consultants gave follow up interviews and research assistance to the writer. Many are or were quite elderly, and the lack of funds allocated for transcribing taped interviews hindered the program for the first several years. Interview transcripts began to appear in 1992, when the first funding was allocated for transcribing and has continued intermittently to the present. This allowed consultants to review what was on tape, sign release forms, and allow the writer to finalize transcripts for retention in the park’s museum collections and library.
The lag in transcription furnishes one reason why more interviews are not freely available to library users. Several consultants died before transcripts were available and therefore could not sign a release. Interviews recorded through field notes remain lodged in the writer’s biographical files established for many consultants, since releases were not obtained. Notes from shorter conversations with other consultants have been placed together in files labeled “Personages of CRLA.” Correspondence containing oral history information is in either of these two places. The writer and/or curator should be contacted for access to these documents.
Without an index, most researchers have thus far expressed little interest in material obtained through oral history. There are only a couple of notable exceptions, but these interviews have never really been integrated into interpretive programs. It is hoped that this document will aid both research and interpretation, but the index will not allow readers to access ethnographic information. The latter is the domain of an ongoing traditional use study conducted under contract by Douglas Deur (4). Oral history pertinent to Crater Lake from other than NPS sources is not indexed, though interested readers are encouraged to consult interviews conducted by other institutions. Suggested sources are noted below (5).
Acknowledgments
The writer wishes to thank all of the people who labored to produce finished transcripts. In chronological order, they include: Darci Deschamais Gomolski, Anton Briefer, Amelia Bruno, C h s Prout, Cheryl Ryan, Renee Edwards, and Kelli Bacher. The laborious work of actually indexing the entries that follow can be credited to Kelli Bacher, who began her work on this document in 1999. Park curator Mary Benterou helped process interviews for retention in the museum collection. The work of other interviewers such as Royal Jackson, Pat Erigero, and John Morrison is included in the index because they were funded to conduct interviews in 1986-87. Consultants deserve the largest measure of appreciation since they made time for these interviews and gave their recollections freely. More than a few rendered ready assistance with editing transcripts, usually waiting months or years before each interview reached that stage of development. My sincerest apologies go to each of them for this inconvenience, as well as regrets about those consultants I could not reach in time.
Stephen R. Mark
October 20,2000
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