Blog 3: Oral History Data

The following is the date collected through note-taking during the in-class interview about September 11th, 2001. I was interviewed by fellow classmate Tempi Bradley. Also present was Stephane Roche, who provided an extra set of ears, eyes and thoughts for the interview process.


5:40 - Interview Begins

Tempie began with basic, introductory questions to get the ball rolling. She inquired about my age, where I live, and various other warmup questions. This part of the interview process was comforting, for even though I have no reservations about speaking I still felt that the beginning steps aided in making me feel ready to talk about the events of eleven years ago. And, as is common in conversational interviews such as this, we also realized many things we share in common (especially in regards to where we live).

5:44 - Where were you?

After the introduction, Tempie moved on to the biggest question at hand: "Where were you on September 11th, 2001?" I responded with my answer: I had been a sophomore in high school and going into my second class, which was Italian. I continued with explaining that the administration made a small announcement about a "little plane hitting the World Trade Center," but that it didn't seem cause for concern as it was downplayed.

Tempie followed this up by asking when the event was made explicitly known. I responded by telling her that I hadn't officially found out right away, but in stark comparison to my Italian class my Chemistry class had my teacher in an emotional frenzy. She began spouting out information that was inaccurate and infused with paranoia (as was the case in those first hours of the day when we, as a nation, didn't know what was happening). After this class was Physical Education and by then the school had announced the severity of what was occurring.

5:48 - What was the mood/feeling after the information was put out there?

Next, Tempie asked how the revelation of the attacks changed the mood at school. I explained that it was just like anywhere else, people were emotional, lost, confused, concocting bizarre theories, worried about family members in New York. There was a general air of frantic madness, a feeling that life as we knew it was changing before our eyes.

5:50 - A frightening discussion.

At this point Tempie interjected with an account of her own. At the time of the attacks, she was in the Army and also studying at Middlesex County College. There she witnessed as certain students of Middle Eastern backgrounds cheered and rejoiced over the attacks. This fact caused myself and Stephane to react with surprise and disgust. A small conversation about the tragic loss of life and the cultural differences in the area arose.

5:52 - Interruption

At this point our discussion was momentarily interrupted by Dr. Chandler making an announcement. This got us back on track with the interview process.

5:56 - New thoughts

Tempie was quick on her feet with new questions. Each thought I brought up created a series of new questions for her to ask. She asked about specific incidents surrounding the day: did I know anyone in New York at the time of the attacks, what was my own emotional reaction to what was happening, how did I feel about those speculated to have caused the attacks, etc. This part of the interview was much more free-wheeling and allowed for an interesting discourse about the nature of tragedy. Many questions arose from my emotional responses to the attacks, which furthered Tempie's interview processed and made for a very interesting series of inquiries.

Conclusion

As the interview wrapped up, we were left with our thoughts about that fateful day. Bringing old scars to light, we relived a time unlike any other in our lives. This was followed by Dr. Chandler beginning a discussion of the interviews and the data we collected from them.