Week 8 The Listening Party

In my week six blog post, I talked about the beginnings of planning a Listening Party and combing through the Vermont Folklife Archives for soundbites that could stand on their own while still collecting keywords and notes about each interview. This week we pulled those soundbites together, made a playlist, and hosted our Listening Party. Anita, the other summer intern, and I settled on three overall themes for our party: Change over time, Women in farming, and Community. For each of these categories, we assembled, in my opinion, a pretty great sampling from the Farm Series Collection. 

1988 - John Messier tells a story about using work horses and how his horse Tom saved him from under a fallen tree one day.
This story highlights the drawbacks to changing technology over time.  

“I had old Tom with me that day. When I got pinned under the tree, he knew I was in trouble. I talked to him, and he tried to pull the rope off, but the rope was too good and he couldn't. He knew I was in trouble, just like another human being would know. And he finally chewed the rope so he could break it, and he came over to me. I got a chain hooked on, and the tree was leaning up in the air, and my foot was down in the ground under it. He tried two, three times; he couldn't move it. It was a big spruce tree. I don't know how he moved it to this day. I just talked to him like a human being, and he knew. The last time he turned around and looked at me, he gave it one heck of a lunge, and he sunk himself right down into the ground and moved it just enough so it freed my toe for just an instant—freed my foot. And I was able to slide my foot out. I got out, crawled over and got on him and headed home. But those are things that tractors won't do for you.”

The community surrounding the Middle Branch Grange showed up for our event, which took place about an hour before the monthly member meeting. Our turnout was around 15-20 people, mostly Grange members but some other community members as well. Mary, Anita, and I sat at the front of an old octagonal schoolhouse that the Grange currently operates out of, and those who came for the listening party sat in a semi-circle around the small, uniquely shaped room. In one corner was a large old wood stove that would have kept this room warm on the frigid winter days of the past. This night, though, was a warm summer evening with windows opened to the sounds of crickets and frogs chirping away. Each member of the audience was given a transcript of the audio clips as well as a brief bio for each voice we would hear. As we made our way through the playlist, we would pause to elaborate on a clip or introduce a new category. I could see various reactions from people in the room who would sometimes perk up or laugh when they heard a certain voice. When we had listened through all the clips, we had a Q&A where folks could share their reactions to what we had played. Many of the people in the room had very personal connections with the recorded interviewees; everything from neighbors to parents of those present. Some shared humorous stories that they were reminded of; others shared sad realities of end of life. In the mix of reactions, I could see very clearly that the oral histories I had been spending weeks processing very much belong to this community. The histories told were not just about the past; they were living and breathing with us in that room. 

1998 - Gert Lepine tells the story of her return to farming after trying out a career in teaching.  

“School teachers sort of have, at least in those days, you know, they were watching you pretty close. I couldn't swear; when I felt like swearing, I wasn't supposed to swear, and when I felt like singing, I really couldn't sing when I was having class. So, God, I said to myself, …. I said, what am I doing here? I said I could be out there working in a sugar bush today. And I don't know, just those four walls, it'd been creeping up on me all winter. So anyway, that night, I made up my mind right there. I said, this is it. So I came home, and I asked Dad if he had a place for me to farm”

The goal of a Listening Party is not entirely cut and dry. In part, it serves to create awareness around the archival material that VT Folklife has to offer; it is also giving the community access to something that is already very much theirs, and, in yet another way, the Listening Party creates possible connections for ongoing dialogue. Vermont Folklife's job is not to just record history, store it away, and forget about it. It is to connect what was, with what is. How do these oral histories recorded in the 1980s and 90s help us understand the same communities and traditions today? This is a question opened up by the Listening Party, but there are certainly multiple answers.

1989 - Floyd Fuller tells about corn huskings, an important social gathering within the farming community. 

“And then when it got cured and that like, why you bring it in and used to have corn huskings. Husk corn till 11-12 o'clock at night. Neighbors would come in and husk corn and have a lunch. And if you found a red ear, if there was any girls there, you could kiss some girl ….. all ages, they'd come in. They used to announce that they got a lot of corn to husk; anybody wanted to come and help husk it, why you'd be welcome. They'd come, and then they'd have some corn to husk, and someone have the corn ready before some of the others, and the neighbors would come in. They wouldn't have a big crowd, but you'd have 8 or 10 people maybe there, sitting around the barn floor husking corn and chatting and having a good time. And then you return the favor to help your neighbor to husk his corn. So they help one another and enjoyed themselves.”