Artifacts -- Tools of the Trade

Template for Student Recording

What if the information you want is beyond the lifetime of those people currently living? For example, you want to know about how slaves were made to stay where they were. What was used to keep them on the plantations? There may be no people around who actually have first hand knowledge of that information, but there are probably instruments to show how they were kept. A Bell rack was one of these pieces of equipment. It is a long metal pipe that attached around the neck of the slave and also was attached to his/her belt. There was a bell at the top that rang when the slave moved.

If you had access to this piece of equipment, you could take a picture of it and then do research on its use. You could find an authority in your area who could tell you about how a Bell rack was used. This would not be a primary source of information. It would be a secondary source, but would be usable none-the-less.

How does this impact your oral history project? The same situation may occur in your project. You may have possession of some material or equipment of which no one has first-hand knowledge. Can you use these? If you can find a creditable source who can give you information on this object, you can interview that person about the need for and use of that object. You will need to document how the interviewee has acquired the information that he/she is telling you.

If you are doing more than one object or if more than one person is interviewing people about material or equipment, it is necessary to have a template on which to record information. Information needed on the template is