,

My Good People,

I was so glad to see so many of you this morning (despite the cold weather) at the NYPL! How many of you have actually been to that branch before today, and for what reason? I spent most of my childhood there.

By now I am guessing you figured out that the exposure to oral histories and the training, was for you to get a sense of what your projects will look like, and what the LARGER project will become once you pioneers have collected the first set of food stories. Below, please take some time to share with me/the rest of the readers & your classmates your experience with the interview you were listening to/about the person/about the transcription process.  Take us through the person you listened to and their stories, and how this experience might work to inspire/inform your research for your food history projects.

2nd. What did you think about the tour? In my humble opinion, those tours take you to a different place in your mind; teach you things you automatically want to find out more about, but others find it not so interesting. I wanted you to go on the tour to give you a crash (visual and physical) experience in history. So talk to me about that!

This afternoon I have plans to sit with your exploration tasks and hope that you enjoyed doing them. Please note that if they aren’t submitted via email by 5 pm today, they won’t be considered for grading. I’d be interested in hearing some thoughts about your experience working on that task.

Have a great weekend!

-Dr.B.