Voices from Barry County’s past
November 25, 2020
Sheila Harris
I discovered the Lifetimes of Memories series of books quite by accident on the Barry County Museum’s website earlier this year. I’ve been enthralled with them ever since. They contain glimpses into the lives of Barry County residents who were raised during the depression, who fought during World War II, and, in general, lived through experiences most of us cannot easily imagine.
At first, I was attracted by the stories of people whose names I recognized, like my kids’ great-grandfather, Dick Harris, but soon I realized that, collectively, they told a story which would forever be lost, if not for the efforts of the employees of the Barry County Museum.
My hat’s off to all of them! - SH
In 2005, a handful of Barry County Museum employees had the idea of preserving a collective oral history of Barry County residents. Twelve years later, in 2017, they stopped for a breather.
Their finished products, a series of twenty printed books, include the words of 99 area residents - most of them now deceased. The books represent not only the lives of the individuals interviewed, but also a way of life lived by many who grew up during earlier years in the Ozarks.
For history lovers - especially lovers of local history - the collection is priceless, but each volume is for sale at the museum for $9.95 each.
Schrediah Mahurin, of Cassville, was approached about taking on the project when she was an employee of Able 2 Products in Cassville in 2005. As a previous employee of the Monett and Cassville Senior Centers, she seemed a natural fit since she was acquainted with many senior citizens in the area.
“I was thrilled to be asked to be a part of the project,” Mahurin said, “but I had zero experience with the concept. In fact, none of us involved had any experience. I started by reading books on the art of oral interviews. My first recorded interview was with my aunt, Eunice Lyall. I thought it would help me if I started with someone I knew, someone easy.”
Mahurin went on to interview the majority of the 99 people whose voices are included in the finished books, interviews which entailed multiple visits spread out over several weeks.
After being recorded, each interview was transcribed, edited, proofed, edited and proofed some more, sometimes as many as three times, said Barry County Museum director, Kathy White.
According to Schrediah Mahurin, each hour of an interview translated into about 40 man-hours of labor.
“Not only did we need someone to transcribe the oral interview,” Mahurin said, “but, with every interview, people usually gave us a small mountain of photos, more than we could possibly use. We had to wade through them, decide what to use, then place them in the proper place in the dialogue.”
A cohesive narrative also had to be created from each transcription, according to Kathy White, who joined the project as an editor and proofreader after it was already underway.
Staff member Jeremiah Buntin, who holds an English degree, created most of the narrative.
“We didn’t have a set schedule or deadline for publication,” Mahurin said. “Our first volume was published in November 2007, on the day that coincided with the opening of the new Barry County Museum. We held a book-signing in the museum with no idea of how many people to expect. We were overwhelmed with the turnout, so planned a little better for those that followed.”
The voices of residents captured in the Lifetimes of Memories series include both well-known names and those not so much so.
“We tried to interview residents (narrators) from a wide cross-section of the county,” Kathy White said.
“Once people became aware of our project, they began to suggest older residents to us who had great stories,” Mahurin said.
Mahurin indicated that she doesn’t have a favorite narrator, but some who stand out in her memory because of the uniqueness of their stories include veterinarian Dr. Eugene Miekley (Volume Ten); Richard “Sarge” Carney, known for his bee-keeping (Volume Three); and J.D. Fletcher, who conducted guided fishing tours (Volume 15).
“You just never knew what J.D. Fletcher was going to say next,” Mahurin said.
Kathy White considers Devere McQueen’s story to be particularly unique, one that was almost lost.
“At first, his family didn’t want us to publish it, but later gave the okay,” she said.
According to White, many of the stories were almost lost.
“Many of the narrators died a short time after we conducted interviews with them,” she said. “All of the narrators in the first four volumes are deceased, as are the majority of the narrators in the remaining volumes.”
All of the oral interviews have been digitized and are currently stored in the museum’s digital archives.
Printed volumes of Lifetimes of Memories are available at The Barry County Museum. They may be ordered by calling 417-847-1640.
Visit http://barrycomuseum.org/pages/memories.html to see images of book covers along with the names of the people who were interviewed.
Sheila Harris
I discovered the Lifetimes of Memories series of books quite by accident on the Barry County Museum’s website earlier this year. I’ve been enthralled with them ever since. They contain glimpses into the lives of Barry County residents who were raised during the depression, who fought during World War II, and, in general, lived through experiences most of us cannot easily imagine.
At first, I was attracted by the stories of people whose names I recognized, like my kids’ great-grandfather, Dick Harris, but soon I realized that, collectively, they told a story which would forever be lost, if not for the efforts of the employees of the Barry County Museum.
My hat’s off to all of them! - SH
In 2005, a handful of Barry County Museum employees had the idea of preserving a collective oral history of Barry County residents. Twelve years later, in 2017, they stopped for a breather.
Their finished products, a series of twenty printed books, include the words of 99 area residents - most of them now deceased. The books represent not only the lives of the individuals interviewed, but also a way of life lived by many who grew up during earlier years in the Ozarks.
For history lovers - especially lovers of local history - the collection is priceless, but each volume is for sale at the museum for $9.95 each.
Schrediah Mahurin, of Cassville, was approached about taking on the project when she was an employee of Able 2 Products in Cassville in 2005. As a previous employee of the Monett and Cassville Senior Centers, she seemed a natural fit since she was acquainted with many senior citizens in the area.
“I was thrilled to be asked to be a part of the project,” Mahurin said, “but I had zero experience with the concept. In fact, none of us involved had any experience. I started by reading books on the art of oral interviews. My first recorded interview was with my aunt, Eunice Lyall. I thought it would help me if I started with someone I knew, someone easy.”
Mahurin went on to interview the majority of the 99 people whose voices are included in the finished books, interviews which entailed multiple visits spread out over several weeks.
After being recorded, each interview was transcribed, edited, proofed, edited and proofed some more, sometimes as many as three times, said Barry County Museum director, Kathy White.
According to Schrediah Mahurin, each hour of an interview translated into about 40 man-hours of labor.
“Not only did we need someone to transcribe the oral interview,” Mahurin said, “but, with every interview, people usually gave us a small mountain of photos, more than we could possibly use. We had to wade through them, decide what to use, then place them in the proper place in the dialogue.”
A cohesive narrative also had to be created from each transcription, according to Kathy White, who joined the project as an editor and proofreader after it was already underway.
Staff member Jeremiah Buntin, who holds an English degree, created most of the narrative.
“We didn’t have a set schedule or deadline for publication,” Mahurin said. “Our first volume was published in November 2007, on the day that coincided with the opening of the new Barry County Museum. We held a book-signing in the museum with no idea of how many people to expect. We were overwhelmed with the turnout, so planned a little better for those that followed.”
The voices of residents captured in the Lifetimes of Memories series include both well-known names and those not so much so.
“We tried to interview residents (narrators) from a wide cross-section of the county,” Kathy White said.
“Once people became aware of our project, they began to suggest older residents to us who had great stories,” Mahurin said.
Mahurin indicated that she doesn’t have a favorite narrator, but some who stand out in her memory because of the uniqueness of their stories include veterinarian Dr. Eugene Miekley (Volume Ten); Richard “Sarge” Carney, known for his bee-keeping (Volume Three); and J.D. Fletcher, who conducted guided fishing tours (Volume 15).
“You just never knew what J.D. Fletcher was going to say next,” Mahurin said.
Kathy White considers Devere McQueen’s story to be particularly unique, one that was almost lost.
“At first, his family didn’t want us to publish it, but later gave the okay,” she said.
According to White, many of the stories were almost lost.
“Many of the narrators died a short time after we conducted interviews with them,” she said. “All of the narrators in the first four volumes are deceased, as are the majority of the narrators in the remaining volumes.”
All of the oral interviews have been digitized and are currently stored in the museum’s digital archives.
Printed volumes of Lifetimes of Memories are available at The Barry County Museum. They may be ordered by calling 417-847-1640.
Visit http://barrycomuseum.org/pages/memories.html to see images of book covers along with the names of the people who were interviewed.
