Hurricane Katrina Oral Histories

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Contents 1 Introduction 2 Methodologies and Issues Involved with Oral Histories of Emerging Crisis 3 Select Katrina Oral History Projects 4 Summary 5 Citations 6 Further Reading

Introduction

Historians have come to realize the vitality of recording oral histories in the midst of emerging crises. There is a need to preserve the memory of those who have witnessed these events before too much time has passed in their minds. On the other hand, historians must be sensitive to the fact that witnesses to traumatic events such as natural disasters and war may be grieving heavy losses and may need time to reflect on their experiences. It is essential for historians to collect and examine the experiences of survivors of natural disasters and other national crises.
Hurricane Katrina is said to have been the greatest natural disaster in American history. Within days of the storm researchers were already organizing teams to go to New Orleans and southern Mississippi to collect interviews. Whether or not the timing was ethical, the stories collected by the teams will prove to serve as a valuable foundation for the writing of Hurricane Katrina’s historical framework. The research teams have sought to make sure that the injustices of the recovery effort will not happen during another national crisis. Another common theme among the research teams was to dissect the racial stereotypes displayed by the media coverage of Katrina.

Methodologies and Issues Involved with Oral Histories of Emerging Crisis

When is the right time to collect interviews? The Oral History Association established the Emerging Crisis Research Fund to aid historians who wish to undertake oral history projects in times of crisis. The fund rewards grants for research projects in the United States and internationally for incidents that include wars and natural disasters and political, economic, and ethnic repression. The Oral History Association does allude to a time frame when scholars begin conducting interviews in emerging crisis in their Mission Statement for the Emerging Crisis Research Fund: “Scholars conducting oral history research on these types of projects often begin interviewing informants within weeks or months of the crisis or even while the crisis event is unfolding. Obtaining funding for such research is generally difficult because of the extended application time schedule of most funding organizations.” ¹
In his article, “Katrina: Reflections on Shouts and Silences”, Stephen Sloan reflects on the decision of the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage at the University of Southern Mississippi’s decision to commence with an oral history project that documented the events of Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi within weeks of the storm. In September of 2005 Sloan organized the Hurricane Katrina Oral History Project to document Mississippians’ experiences of the storm. The project was funded primarily from the Mississippi Humanities Council through the National Endowment for the Humanities.²
In his article, Sloane admits that there are ethical issues that oral historians will encounter if they wish to conduct interviews close to the occurrence of the crisis. He admits that oral history interviewing can be seen as an invasive exercise so near to the event and that historians are showing up to do interviews when people are trying to get their lives back in order. He further relates that many historians feel uncomfortable with immediate interviewing. However, Sloan argues that reflection of events is essential to the healing process and many survivors are willing to share their stories.³ In addition, Sloane asserts that starting the project so soon after the storm was over allowed the interviewers to work with multiple disciplines including the business, political science, anthropology, health, tourism management, and nursing fields.⁴ However, it is also important to note that the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage already had strong community connections in southern Mississippi. Historians without strong ties to the communities that they are entering should not be so hopeful for immediate access.
Sloane argues against allowing the passage of time to do oral history fieldwork. He says that while some historians believe that a passage of time is needed to use methodology in an effective manner, he believes that oral histories can be used to become the groundwork for building the greater historical framework. He states: “The worth is not in the narrators’ ability to achieve an immediate level of synthesis or greater meaning, but in their power to glean out individual experience and meaning, even in raw form.” ⁵
Finally, Sloane asks the question of whether historical distance really exists. Is there a time frame that will allow survivors to recall the event without becoming overwhelmed with emotion? Sloane shared an experience that he had while interviewing Mary Ellen Weathersby Pope in Columbus, Mississippi. Pope was overcome with emotion as she recalled her experiences of the great Mississippi flood that occurred in 1927.⁶ Perhaps this one interview could justify Sloane’s argument, but human emotions and memory are too complex to be measured by one person. Therefore, the existence of historical distance should still be taken into consideration by potential oral historians.
Other oral histories collected after a crisis have brought to light issues that will likely hinder the interviewing efforts of historians. Historians would be wide to reflect on their experiences as well as Sloan’s. Like the Hurricane Katrina project, the September 11, 2001, Oral History Narrative and Memory Project was initiated within days of the attack. The Columbia University Oral History Research Office created the project to explore the differing memories and interpretations of the attack and the aftermath that could only be recorded through personal accounts. They were also hoping to answer the question of whether memory or history dominates over major events. ⁷
The September 11, 2001, Oral History Narrative and Memory Project sampled from a group of four hundred people who would be interviewed three times in a three year period. The interviews were conducted in New York, New Jersey, Boston, and Washington, D.C. The string of interviews was meant to determine whether or not the September 11 attacks could be considered a turning point in the participants’ lives. The participants were approached at Union Square, which had become a makeshift memorial. Other participants were approached at public gathering places, community organizations, churches, firehouses, etc. Those being interviewed were offered information about counseling as well as the choice to remain anonymous. ⁸
In their initial report the September 11, 2001, Oral History Narrative and Memory Project staff and volunteers cited some of the problems that this project encountered with their methodology because of its proximately to the attack. The first issue was the fact that it has yet to be determined how trauma affects memory. The emotional constraints on the participants could hinder their ability to tell their story. The second problem was the lack of historic resources available on the event and the inability to find an event that could serve as a paradigm for the attack. While the September 11 attacks were often compared with the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor, the team dismissed this parallel due to the fact the victims of that attack were not civilians. Another initial problem was that none of the participants had a shared collective memory of prior trauma that had been passed down through living memory. And finally, the team saw a lack of a collective story as it emerges from communities affected by terrorist attacks. ⁹
Perhaps the historians working on the September 11, 2001, Oral History Narrative and Memory Project would have been able to find a collective story if the efforts had been lead by a survivor of the attacks or someone closer to the event. Carolyn Lunsford Mears’ child was attending Columbine High School the day of the shooting on April 20, 1999. Although her child survived the attack, Mears still felt compelled to tell the story of other Columbine mothers who saw their children- and community in general- suffer after the tragic event. Mears’ project offers a different perspective than the two previous projects mentioned. In Mears’ oral history project was led by someone inside rather than outside the community. ¹⁰
In her project Mears was able to identify common responses to a disaster by her narrators. The narrators elaborated that they felt anxiety, loss, and a sense of feeling disconnected from one’s own experiences. Others felt separate from others who did not share experience the traumatic event felt themselves forming a protective shield to avoid further violation. Mears argues that responses such as these contribute to the difficulties that researchers face when confronting a tragic event or disaster.
According to Mears, the oral history interview proceeds from the idea that the narrator has survived a significant life event and is being given a chance to share it. Some choose to share their story to inform others with similar experiences, while others wish to add to local history.¹¹ Mears further adds that by being in control of an oral history interview the narrator can relinquish some of the control that was taken away from them during their tragic event.¹²
Finally, Mears suggests that her own personal experience with the shooting at Columbine allowed her to ask questions of the six parents whom she interviewed that an outside researcher might not have thought of to ask. She then challenged the parents to expand beyond her own personal knowledge.
While Mears' interviews could serve as an excellent historic document of the Columbine Shooting, the stories recorded have been deemed confidential. It was never Mears intention for the audiotapes to become a historic record. Rather, she wished that the stories from the tapes be used to inform first responders and educators about the emotions and difficulties of people who have lived through traumatic events.¹³

Select Katrina Oral History Projects

Studying just a handful of Katrina oral history projects will introduce the potential researcher to a wide range of methodologies and perspectives. Some oral history projects such as Spike Lee’s documentary, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four 'Acts, were of the mindset of the Hurricane Katrina Oral History Project. That is, the team behind the documentary felt that it was important to record the stories as soon as possible. It is likely that the documentary format also pushed the need to record as soon as possible as it requires images as well as audio. Whatever the motivations, the production of the documentary began three months after the storm. The crew took eight trips to New Orleans and collected approximately one hundred interviews. Unlike other oral histories of the event, the documentary blends a combination of the high profile figures such as Sean Penn and Harry Belefonte with the everyday citizens of the New Orleans who suffered unimaginable losses. The film was directed by Spike Lee and produced and edited by Sam Pollard. Sheila Nevins was the executive producer and Jacqueline Glover served as the supervising producer. ¹⁴
When the Levees Broke is divided into four acts. The first act is about the reaction to the warnings of the storm. It illustrates the wariness of residents to evacuate and their strong tie to New Orleans. In the first chapter the documentary begins its dissection of the effectiveness of the levees. A startling rumor among the residents who were interviewed was that the levees were dynamited purposely to save the French Quarter. Many who believed this rumor remembered hearing a loud explosion when the levees gave way. Acts two and three cover the arrival of Katrina in New Orleans, the breach of the levees, and the events that preceded the FEMA’s belated recovery efforts. Survivors such as Phyllis Montana LeBlanc recall the horrors of the Superdome and the Convention Center. The fourth act shows FEMA’s actions when the agency finally arrived in New Orleans. Residents express their frustration as they waited for their FEMA trailers to arrive and watched what they believed to be an insufficient search for bodies in neighborhood homes. The film ends with a further investigation of the Army Corps of Engineers in the building of the levees.
The oral histories have been intertwined with news coverage and jazz performances throughout the documentary. The news broadcasts seem to act as an overall narrator of the documentary while the music is a testament to the spirit of the city. One of the most touching scenes is the funeral procession throughout the streets of New Orleans with a coffin that has been marked, “Katrina.” The ultimate question of When the Levees Broke seems to be, “did the United States government fail the City of New Orleans?” The tone of the documentary certainly suggests that the answer is yes. That will certainly be a question that will be addressed when historians begin their historic framework of the event. ¹⁵
Overcoming Katrina: African American Voices from the Crescent City and Beyond edited by D’Ann R. Penner and Keith C. Ferdinand was created in response to the horrific treatment of African-Americans in the wake of Katrina and the belated presence of FEMA. The book contains twenty-seven interviews that were selected from two hundred seventy-five that were conducted over a three year period from September of 2005 to August of 2008. The editors chose to do minimal editing of the transcriptions and to keep scholarly information in the books introduction and conclusion. The editor’s goal was to make this book accessible for academic and nonacademic readers. In an effort to keep their accounts truly personal the narrators were able to choose their own photograph that would be included in the book. ¹⁶
Penner and Ferdinand chose to focus on African-Americans because they are believed to have composed eighty percent of the post-Landfall survivors in New Orleans. In addition, African-Americans represented the majority of the people who were at the Superdome, the Convention Center, and the staging ground on Causeway Blvd. underneath the I-70 overpass in Jefferson Parish. The third reason is that there is very little literature currently available about what New Orleans means to African-Americans. The editors also wanted to dispel the exaggerated crime that the media reported after the storn. They felt that the media focused only on crimes that were being committed by African-Americans. The final reason was to tell the missing stories of heroism by African-Americans during and after Katrina. ¹⁷
One such story of heroism and community leadership was that of Willie Pitford who chose not to evacuate and later rescued many of his neighbors. Pitford is an upper middleclass owner of an elevator business. He chose not to evacuate in order to protect his property. During his interview, Pitford states that his father had taught him how to prepare for a hurricane. His resourcefulness saved his family and some of his neighbors. Pitford used his two boats to rescue people who were stranded in their homes. He also spent much of his time preparing food for neighbors who had none. Pitford’s resourcefulness did not spare him from acts of discrimination and vandalism. At one point reporters accused Pitford of looting his own home. When Pitford finally evacuated the National Guard searched his home, and some of his belongings were missing when he returned. ¹⁸
Overcoming Katrina looks into the entire life stories of the survivors instead of just the events surrounding the storm. Voices from the Storm: The People of New Orleans on Hurricane Katrina and Its Aftermath interviews its narrators in a similar fashion. Thirteen residents were interviewed about all of the following categories: “Life Before the Storm”, “The Storm”, “The Week After”, “Weeks after the Storm”, and “Looking Back.” “The Storm” is further divided by dates from August twenty-seventh through September fourth. In this way the reader can better place the events of Hurricane Katrina into the narrators’ life stories. The individual oral histories have been placed into their own subchapters instead of being intertwined with the other oral histories and editorial commentary.
Voices from the Storm is part of a series of books that document violations of human rights, the Voice of Witness Series. Perhaps the most compelling of the narratives is that of Dan Bright. A former death row convict who was wrongfully convicted of first degree murder in 1996, Dan was struggling to find steady employment. In August of 2005, just before Katrina hit shore Bright was picked up by the police for a warrant that had been out on him for a misdemeanor charge.¹⁹ Bright was to be bailed and was in central lockup on August, 28 when Katrina hit shore. Bright remembers that the guards had left the prison around nine in the morning. He recalls prisoners hollering at the guards for lunch and showers, but the guards never came.²⁰ He had no relief when he and the other prisoners were transferred to the Hunt Correctional Center. They had spent Tuesday through Thursday on the Broad Street Bridge without food and water and were forced to climb down a scaffold to get to busses below the bridge. The conditions in Hunt were also dreadful. Bright recalls that the prisoners were held in Hunt’s prison football field. No restrooms were available and the prisoners had to sleep on the wet field with just blankets.²¹ Hunt was later moved to Rapides Parish Prison in Alexandria, Louisiana where conditions were improved. ²²
Finally, the internet has allowed for historians to collect oral histories in a greater capacity than ever before. The Hurricane Digital Memory Bank was organized by George Mason University’s Center for New Media and the University of New Orleans in a partnership with the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History as well as other partners. The sites uses electric media to collect, preserve, and present the stories and digital record of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The collection includes first hand accounts, on-scene images, blogs, and podcasts that are accessible to the public. Contributing to the website is simple and open to almost anyone. The Hurricane Digital Memory Bank accepts contributions from survivors, first responders, relief workers, family, friends and anyone with reflections on the hurricanes and their aftermath. ²³
Various institutions have added their projects to the Memory Bank. One project of note is Narrating Hurricane Katrina through Oral History. This project began in fall of 2005 under Director Dr. Lisa Pruitt of The Albert Gore, Sr. Research Center at Middle Tennessee State University. The interviews were conducted to record the experiences of Katrina evacuees and first responders living in Tennessee. The interviews were conducted by Gore staff, students, and volunteers. The tapes and transcriptions are held at the Gore Center’s Middle Tennessee Oral History Collection and can also be accessed through the Digital Memory Bank. The Digital Memory Bank allows survivors of the storms to record their stories without the intervention of historians. It also allows for smaller institutions or communities to make their narratives publicly accessible.

Summary

In short, some historians argue that oral histories need to be collected as soon after the event as possible to get a more accurate interview. Those who disagree argue that time must be given to the survivors to recover from their tragedy and to reflect on their memories. Oral history has been and will continue to be a vehicle for exposing human rights violations that would not have been documented otherwise. In addition, new media such as the Hurricane Digital Memory Bank allow a greater and more diverse collection of oral histories that are readily accessible to the public.

Citations

1. Kitchens, Susan, “Emerging Crisis Research Fund,” http://www.oralhistory.org/?s=emerging+crisis (accessed May 31, 2009).
2. Stephen Sloan, “Katrina: Reflections on Shouts and Silences,” Oral History Review 35, no. 2 (2008): 176-186. America: History & Life, EBSCOhost http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.libraries.wright.edu:2048/ehost/pdf?vid=3&hid=102&sid=10f913de-0a0b-402d-b63c-23ab7acd1cc6%40sessionmgr102 (accessed May 31, 2009), 176.

3. Ibid., 178.

 4.Ibid., 180-181.
 5. Ibid., 181-182.
 6. Ibid., 183.

  7. Mary Marshall Clark, “The September 11, 2001, Oral History Narrative and Memory Project: A First Report." Journal of American History 89, no. 2: 569-579. America: History & Life, EBSCOhost http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.libraries.wright.edu:2048/ehost/pdf?vid=4&hid=102&sid=10f913de-0a0b-402d-b63c-23ab7acd1cc6%40sessionmgr102#db=ahl&AN=A000524740.01 (accessed May 31, 2009).,569.
  8. Ibid., 570.
  9. Ibid.,574-575.
  10. Carolyn Lunsford Mears, “A Columbine Story: Giving Voice, Hearing Meaning,” Oral History Review 35, no. 2: 159-175. America: History & Life, EBSCOhost http://journals.ohiolink.edu.ezproxy.libraries.wright.edu:2048/ejc/pdf.cgi/Mears_Carolyn_Lunsford.pdf?issn=15338592&issue=v35i0002&article=159_acsgvhm (accessed May 31, 2009), 159, 160.
11. Ibid.,160.
12. Ibid., 161.
13. Ibid., 164.

 14. Spike Lee,dir, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, with Sean Penn, Harry Belefonte, and Phylis Montana LeBlanc, et al (New York: HBO Video, 2006).

15. Ibid.
16. Overcoming Katrina: African American Voices from the Crescent City and Beyond, ,ed. D’Ann R. Penner and Keith C. Ferdinand (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), xi.
17. Ibid., xxi.
18. Ibid., 108-114.
19. Voices from the storm: the people of New Orleans on Hurricane Katrina and its Aftermath, Voice of Witness Series, ed. Vollen, Lola and Chris Ying, (San Francisco: McSweeney's Books, 2006), 19-20.
20. Ibid., 97.

21. Ibid., 125.
22. Ibid., 156
23. “About the Hurricane Digital Memory Bank,” Hurricane Digital Memory Bank, http://www.hurricanearchive.org/about (accessed May 31, 2009).

Further Reading

Clark, Mary Marshall. 2002. "The September 11, 2001, Oral History Narrative And Memory Project: A First Report." Journal of American History 89, no. 2: 569-579. America: History & Life, EBSCOhost (accessed May 31, 2009).

Albert Gore, Sr, Research Center, "Vinson Bridget HK1256K.mp3." Hurricane Digital Memory Bank, Object #26942 (April 18 2007, 2:24 pm)<http://www.hurricanearchive.org/object/26942>

Lee, Spike, Sam Pollard, Ray Nagin, Sean Penn, Al Sharpton, Wynton Marsalis, Harry Belafonte, et al. 2006. When the levees broke a requiem in four acts. [New York?]: HBO Video.

Mears, Carolyn Lunsford. 2008. "A Columbine Study: Giving Voice, Hearing Meaning." Oral History Review 35, no. 2: 159-175. America: History & Life, EBSCOhost (accessed May 31, 2009).

Penner, D'Ann, and Keith C. Ferdinand. Overcoming Katrina: African American Voices from the Crescent City and Beyond. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.

Schaefer, Mikel. Lost in Katrina. Gretna: Pelican Pub. Company, 2007.

Sloan, Stephen. "Oral History and Hurricane Katrina: Reflections on Shouts and Silences." Oral History Review 35, no. 2 (2008): 176-186. America: History & Life, EBSCOhost (accessed May 31, 2009).

Vollen, Lola, Chris Ying, Dave Eggers, Stacy Parker Aab, Mary Beth Black, Colin Dabkowski, Billy Sothern, Andy Young, and Lart Cognac. 2006. Voices from the storm: the people of New Orleans on Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Voice of Witness. San Francisco: McSweeney's Books.