After just a few days of casting about I have managed to find quite a list of UA vets willing to be interviewed. I now have four interviews in the can, tape-recorded and transcribed. These range in time from about twenty minutes to an hour. If you want to know what this means, an hour or so of talking turns into about 32 pages of text in double-spaced format.
How this works: when the recorded interview is done it is played back on a transcribing machine, which is just a tape recorder operated by a foot pedal. The words are typed in small bits, perhaps half a sentence at a time, with care taken to avoid errors. The foot pedal allows me to run the tape back a couple of seconds each time to insure that I've got the words right. Tedious? Not really. I am hearing and preserving the memories and thoughts of decades, a great privilege and responsibility. This is an important thing to get right and I'd rather be doing this than just about anything else.
This weblog is for participants in a project whose goal is to record the oral histories of the United Association workers who built the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.
San Onofre Workers
If you worked on the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in any UA classification during the construction phases of any of the units, or if you worked for any of the contractors or the utility, we invite you to participate in this project. We are recording and transcribing interviews now and would be happy to include your voice. We intend to compile as many interviews as possible for this project, and then create a written product--a research paper or perhaps a book on the subject. All participants will receive a transcript of their interview and, depending on the end product, may find themselves appearing in print. If you wish to sign on to this enterprise, please contact Michael McGrorty, email backwage@aol.com.
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About Me
- Michael McGrorty
- I have worked with, for and around trade unions for many years.