Teaser

Published on September 1, 2018

https://www.samford.edu/departments/oral-history/projects/samwav/Teaser.mp3

"Since the 1970s, folks such as Jim Brown, Wayne Flynt, Donald Wilson, Marlene Rikard, and Jonathan Bass have led students in this field. STORI is continuing this good work and is committed to collecting, preserving, archiving, and disseminating oral histories from the Samford community, the Birmingham area, and the state of Alabama."

Transcript

[HARWELL GOODWIN DAVIS: He stated that he had been appointed to suggest a
president for Howard College.

EUNICE ROGERS: And so there was a lot of industry in Bessemer when I grew up, a
lot of progressiveness. However, it was still a typical, small, Southern town.

OLIVER BARREAU: To be perfectly honest with you, um, I didn't know what
Alabama was until I set foot in Alabama.

ELIZABETH SLOAN RAGLAND: I was not greeted by hecklers. I was greeted by Martha
Ann Cox.]

MICHELLE LITTLE: Hello and welcome to Sam.wav, the podcast for Samford
University's Oral History Program, STORI. We are your hosts, Michelle
Little and Claire Davis. This podcast is coming to you from the campus of
Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. Claire, why don't you tell the
listeners a little bit about our program, which is relatively new?

CLAIRE DAVIS: Sure! We are an oral history program called Samford Traditions and Oral
History Recording Initiative, or STORI for short. We launched in 2015. As part
of preparations for Samford's 175th anniversary, the Office of University
Historian and the University Library's Special Collection and Archives
Office got the opportunity to revitalize oral history work on Samford's
campus. Oral history work isn't anything new for Samford. Since the 1970s,
folks such as Jim Brown, Wayne Flynt, Donald Wilson, Marlene Rikard, and
Jonathan Bass have led students in this field. STORI is continuing this good
work and is committed to collecting, preserving, archiving, and disseminating
oral histories from the Samford community, the Birmingham area, and the state of
Alabama.

MICHELLE LITTLE: So really, what better way to get oral history narratives out there to
the general public than through a new podcast series? So first, let me explain a
little bit about the name of our podcast, Sam.wav (history uncompressed). This
is a mash-up of one of Samford's new branding marks, Sam Dot, and the name
for uncompressed audio files, waves. So just like .wav files are for
uncompressed audio; oral history gives us uncompressed history. We're
adding voices to the historical record, and this combats against having a
reductionist, revisionist version of history.

CLAIRE DAVIS: In this introduction episode, we wanted to talk about what is unique and
exciting about STORI and how that will be highlighted through this podcast
series. Our program is built to support student involvement through
semester-long internship projects. These projects often focus on not only
collecting and archiving institutional history, but also collecting and
highlighting the history of the three communities that Samford has been a part of in
its 175 years.

MICHELLE LITTLE: So let's give a little bit of background on our school history at
this point in the podcast. Samford was established in Marion, Alabama in 1841.
At that time, they were called Howard College, and they remained in Marion until
1887 when they found the need to relocate to East Lake, Alabama. Eventually in
East Lake, they outgrew their buildings - they were landlocked - and so they
moved to their present campus here in Homewood in 1957. So really there are
three communities that helped Samford become what it is today. There's
Marion, East Lake, and Homewood. So what we want to do with this program is
engage with all those communities and preserve our shared history. And
we're doing that by creating these experiential learning opportunities that
send Samford students out into those communities to record their stories and
engage in meaningful and unique ways.

CLAIRE DAVIS: Each semester, a new group of Samford undergraduate students work
with the STORI office to conduct a series of oral history interviews. Each
Sam.wav podcast will highlight a different student's semester project.

MICHELLE LITTLE: These finished products last long beyond the semester course,
and they live on to change the way students and the larger public interact with
history.  We're really passionate at STORI about making history
personal. We get tired of hearing the common complaint that studying history
is boring, it's just about memorizing a bunch of names and dates and dead
presidents...  We think that students so often separate history from the
lived experience, and we believe that history is life, and we experience life
through stories. So we're incredibly excited to explore the lives of the
people around us in the Samford community as well as the local communities in
Alabama that our university has been a part of and bring these stories to you
through this podcast.

CLAIRE DAVIS: Before we sign off, we wanted to give you a sneak peek at what's
to come in our next few episodes. An interview with Classics Department Chair
Randy Todd on the real meaning behind the Samford motto: [05:19]

RANDY TODD: More importantly, I think it would have to do with that
"aeternitatae." Again I often see it translated "Forever," you know, For God,
For Learning, Forever, but one of the clever things about doing something in
Latin is to have this kind of word play or these, we'll say riddles, but
these, you know, giving you something to think about, and so the aeternitatae,
if you look, if you just look at a translation and say, "For God, For Learning,
Forever," you might miss out on the fact that it is very deliberately crafted to
say "For eternity."

CLAIRE DAVIS: ...Beeson Divinity School student, Omar Alegria, on
international students and their drive to better the world...

[OMAR ALEGRIA SPEAKS IN SPANISH]

EVAN (VOICEOVER): I sincerely want to go back to Peru, but-- and I want to go
back as, in other words with, like, with the idea of how to be able to
help it, but in the field that I am in, in the field where I work. I know that
through the Gospel, through the word of God, by way of instilling those biblical
values in people, there can begin to be a change, in the country, there
always, there are moments where one sees and sees opportunities here, a
different life, more calm, with more opportunities, and all of that, but on the
other hand, there is always that, that-- the sentiment for my country.

CLAIRE DAVIS: ...and Samford undergraduate student, Oliver Barreau, on the
differing experiences of immigration within the Birmingham area.

OLIVER BARREAU: I, I've always, I was always the more outspoken and more
outgoing of us two. She was always kind of more, more shy and reserved. And, and
I feel like me being more outgoing and more outspoken and more willing to, to
put myself out there kind of made my experience a little--a lot--different
than hers. I'm not saying she was, she had no friends or she was sheltered
or anything like that, far from it, she was-- I mean she, I think she
enjoyed, um she enjoyed her middle school years, enjoyed her middle, or high
school years, but I definitely think that our, our experiences were not night
and day but sunrise and sunset, you know? They were, they were kind of
different. [

CLAIRE DAVIS: Hear these voices and more in the coming episodes. We'll return with our
first full episode in June, so mark your calendars! There, we'll discuss the
impact Samford has made in its 175 years of existence. Until then, make waves.

MICHELLE LITTLE: Without the work of interviewers and transcribers like Bryan Kessler,
Chase Trautwein, Evan Musgraves, and Keely Smith, these histories would have
been lost to, well, history. Thank you again to our interviewers and faculty who
make this initiative a reality.

Our background music was from the Free Music Archive. For more information on
the specific artists and songs, check out our show notes.

Our theme music was composed by Samford student, Kerry Joiner.

Our cover art was designed by the Samford Marketing & Communications Office.

The interview with Dr. Randy Todd was conducted by Claire Davis. The interview
with Omar Alegria was conducted by Claire Gaxiola, and the interview with Oliver
Barreau was conducted by Jessica McKee and Jenny Cockerham.

Today's show was written and hosted by Claire Davis and Michelle Little.

This is a Samford Traditions and Oral History Recordings Initiative production.
For more information on Samford University or our program, visit our website at
oralhistory.samford.edu or follow us on Facebook and Instagram at Samford_Stori,
and on Twitter at SU_Stori.

Audio Information
Attribute	Value
Repository	Samford University Oral History Collection
Accession	SUHist/STORI/009