PRESERVE WV AMERICORPS COMPLETES OVER 18 ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEWS

By Eliza, Preserve WV AmeriCorps

The “biggest thing” that occurred during my second quarter of service was the Old Hemlock Reunion. While LeJay and other Old Hemlock Family members did most of the planning, I felt as though I learned and grew in my role as an AmeriCorps member substantially through my experience at the reunion. Having attending the reunion and met most of the members of this community, I finally feel as though I am a member of the family and that I have acquired a greater level of understanding of the current legacy of George and Kay. My two major contributions at the reunion were the completion of 18 oral history interviews and the creation of a solution to LeJay’s sign-up problem (signupgenius.com). I also gave a presentation of my personal thoughts and reflections on George’s legacy, which was very well received.  I indexed 1000 minutes of interviews with George and Kay. These were the interviews that Kathy Harper recorded while writing George’s autobiography. LeJay and I felt as though it would not be a practical use of my time to transcribe these interviews, so I created an index instead. It has already proved to be useful.