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Interview Outline for Elder Memoirs and Family Oral Histories

You do not need to ask all the questions in order. Choose one topic each time and keep the session within a length that is comfortable for the elder; immediately skip any question they do not wish to answer.

Family and Childhood

Where were you born? Who was in the family at that time?
What work did your parents and grandparents do?
What was the house, street, or village where you lived as a child like?
What festivals, ancestor worship practices, or family rules and customs did your family have?
What were the happiest and most difficult things in your childhood?

Education and Growing Up

Where did you first go to school? How did you get to school?
Which teacher or classmate had the greatest influence on you?
What were the study and living conditions like at that time?
When did you first leave your hometown?
What kind of person did you most want to become when you were young?

Work and the Times

How did you get your first job?
What important changes did you experience at work?
Which mentors, colleagues, or friends are worth remembering?
How did changes in the times affect family life?
What is the one thing you are most proud of or most regret?

Marriage and Family

How did you meet your spouse? What was the wedding like at that time?
Where did you live after starting a family, and how did you divide responsibilities?
What unforgettable details do you remember from when your children were born?
How did the family solve difficulties together when they arose?
Which experience do you most hope your children will understand?

Migration and Family Clues

How did you learn about the family's ancestral home and migration route?
Have you preserved any old genealogies, generation names, hall names, or ancestral grave information?
Which relatives later lost contact?
Who did the family photos, letters, and documents come from?
Which accounts are from your own experience, and which were told by elders?

Family Values and Life Reflections

Which principles for how to conduct oneself does the family value most?
What was the most important choice you ever made?
Which traditions do you hope future generations will preserve?
What words would you like to leave separately for your children and grandchildren?
If you could do it all over again, what would you still insist on?

Five Preparations Before the Interview

Obtain the person's authorization for audio recording, filming, and subsequent use, and explain who will be able to see the results.
Choose a quiet, familiar setting, prepare water and any necessary medication, and avoid making a single interview too long.
Bring ten to twenty representative photos and use specific images to help prompt memories.
Turn on a local backup on the recording device at the same time, and state the date, location, and participants at the beginning.
Start with relaxed topics, and do not repeatedly press on trauma, illness, or family conflicts.

How to Handle Differences in Memory During Organization

Oral history records personal memory, which does not mean every detail can be treated as objective fact. Names, dates, places, and family relationships should be cross-checked as much as possible against documents, old genealogies, photo captions, or other firsthand witnesses; accounts that cannot be reconciled may be preserved side by side, with the narrator and interview date noted.

Need an interviewer to assist with recording?

Tell us the age of the person being recorded, their region, and the materials already available, and we will assess whether audio interviews, video filming, or photo organization should be done first.