Telling the Stories of Forgotten Communities: Oral History, Public Memory, and Black Communities in the American South

Abstract

Oral histories and ethnographic interviews allow researchers to unearth and recover remarkable stories from our past. Paula Hamilton and Linda Shopes assert, “Oral history is at heart a deeply social practice connecting past and present and, at times, connecting narrative to action.” Likewise, the “authentic” voice of communities and individuals is best accessed through these methods. This article explores oral histories and ethnographic interviews conducted in the “forgotten” Jago community (located in northwestern Mississippi) and the Pontchartrain Park community (located in New Orleans, Louisiana). The analysis of the all-black Jago community, founded during Reconstruction and absorbed by a majority white municipality during the mid-1900s, brings light to historical recovery through utilizing oral history. Additionally, the connections between oral history and public history are explored through examining the local campaign led by historians and community groups to place historical markers in the original section of the Jago community. The exploration of the historically black Pontchartrain Park community recovers the voices of a neighborhood almost wiped from public memory due to Hurricane Katrina and brings light to the ways in which oral interviews help preserve local historical identity and promote public history.