MEMOIRS OF VETERANS OF CHEBOKSARY ELECTRIC ACTUATORS PLANT AS A SOURCE OF THE ORAL HISTORY OF THE FORMATION OF CHUVASHIA’S ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING CLUSTER

Abstract

The article analyzes the memoirs of veterans of Cheboksary electric actuators plant. These memoirs contain a description of the activities of the enterprise’s team from the moment of its foundation to the end of the 80’s of the 20th century. The research methodology is based on the methods of «oral history», which involve the analysis of materials obtained by conversations and interviews with participants and witnesses of historical events. This gives the authors the opportunity to draw unconventional conclusions about already known historical facts and to identify previously unknown social phenomena.
 
 The novelty of the research is based on the analysis of memoirs that were not previously used as oral historical sources. In addition, the authors’ research approach is new, since the method of «oral history» has become widespread in the historical science of Russia only recently.
 
 The results of the study show that the data obtained by the above-mentioned method is an important addition to another group of sources – official documents, statistical reviews, and regulations. Memoirs of the enterprise employees contain estimates of historical events, reflecting the attitude of participants and witnesses to them. The analysis of such value judgments enables to update our knowledge and bring it closer to modern understanding.
 
 At the same time, the assessments present in the memoirs do not idealize the historical past. They go beyond official documents and are independent judgments, contributing to a more objective understanding of the historical processes that took place in the USSR in the second half of the twentieth century. Memoirs make it possible to recreate the first years of the plant’s existence, the process of forming its team, and see the assessments of the most important events in the plant’s history through the eyes of insiders. It is since that time that an electrical engineering cluster has been created in Chuvashia, which includes training of highly qualified specialists.
 
 This circumstance allows us to draw another conclusion – about the broad prospects of the chosen research direction. Memoirs contain a large array of materials that require repeated processing and continued research. This type of source should continue to be collected in the form of oral conversations and interviews. Such work should eventually result in the formation of a database with the prospect of their storing in various areas for subsequent use by other researchers in accordance with their field of scientific interests. This is also related to the practical significance of the research topic. Its results can be applied in the development of other problems in modern history, and become an example for the further development of modern methodology of historical science.