Kiersten Gray

Doctor Mulderink

HIST 2710

April 21, 2006

Preserving Jack Gray’s History

Project’s intended audience and beneficiaries:

Family history has always fascinated me so I was really excited that I was able to do this project and be able to share it with all of my extended family. Last semester I had the privilege of making a cook book to preserve our history through recipes. This semester has been even better because I have been able to preserve our history through my Grandpa’s real life stories. Therefore, the intended audience and beneficiaries of this project are my immediate and extended family. I also hope to have my Grandfather’s stories published in the History of Lehi at the Lehi City Public Library.

Local Contact Person’s or Agency:

My contact person throughout this project was my Grandfather, Jack Gray. I have never been a stranger to my grandfather, but I have been a stranger to his past life. Even though I have had dinners, Christmas parties, and Sunday visits at his home, I never realized that he had a life before being a grandpa. Really getting to know my Grandfather and become a close contact with him throughout this project has greatly enriched my life and benefited our relationship as grandfather/granddaughter.

Workload to complete the project and time table:

Formulating Idea for Service Learning 1 hour

Researching World War II and questions to ask 2 hours

Travel time to visit grandfather 6 hours

Interview with Grandfather 3 hours

Typing up report 4 hours

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Total hours on service learning project 16 hours

This project was a lot more work than I thought it would be. I have completed the required hours for this class, but am no where near being done with it. I have just begun to scrape the surface of my grandfather’s past and I intend on digging all the way down. I have not yet had a chance to transcribe his stories into writing, something that I will do. I know that the work required to do that will be tedious and arduous, but I am willing to do whatever it takes no matter how hard the workload is to complete this project.

Technology Related Sources:

I used a few different forms of technology for this project. The first source I used was a digital recording system. I borrowed this system from the History Department on campus and was very excited I was able to do so. I have never used a machine like it, so it was a fun, new experience for me. I was very impressed with the way it recorded the interview I held with my grandfather. Next time I interview him though, I think I will use one of the recorder’s from the campus’s library…just so I can try different forms of technology with this project. The next source I used was a scanner. After my grandfather lent me his pictures I began scanning them into the computer. I didn’t want to put the original copies in the project for fear of destroying them. But, even though technology is amazing, sometimes it fails us and my scanner had some major problems. I had to put in the original pictures (so please be careful, it’s basically my Grandpa’s life is this folder). Another source of technology I used was the Internet. This helped me out with the research aspect of this report and made it possible for me to find out ways I could interview my grandfather. Finally, the last technological resource I used was the computer application of Microsoft Word. I was able to type up the report for this project using that application.

Connections to other service learning projects:

There is a lot more service to be done with my project. As I stated earlier in the paper, I have barely got anywhere with my interviews. My grandfather is 83 years old and has a lot of life stories to tell. I know I have a lot of interviews ahead of me to be able to get all his stories down. Also, I still need to transcribe the interview I had with him for this project. Another aspect of this project I want to work on deals with my grandmother. I would like to record her experiences of what it was like being a woman and living in America during the war. I’m sure she would have just as amazing stories as my grandpa to tell. And finally, when I am finished interviewing and recording the stories of my grandparents on the Gray side of the family, I want to focus my attention to my mother’s side and interview her mother and father. I will need to work quickly to do this, for my grandparents on both sides are becoming very old and fragile.

Reflection Statement:

Doing projects like this is why I love history and want to make it a constant part of my life! Interviewing my grandpa and hearing about his experiences made him come to life for me and become a real person. From doing this project I realized that I will always delve myself into the past, whether through personal interviews, studying of books, or teaching others. I think that America in general has become too blasé about the past and does realize that they were real men and women who built the future that we have today. It is because of their sacrifices, hard work, and dedication that we are able to stand and call ourselves Americans. My grandfather gave his all for this country and is proud of everything he has done. I’m sure everyone who has sacrificed for America would say the same; that is why it is important that we preserve these histories so we can grasp what it was like to live during extremely hard times and come out ok. I know that by me preserving my family history, the current generations and future generations will be able to understand, even if only a little bit, that history does not just relate to the past, it impacts the future. Once again, words cannot describe what a joy it was to really learn about my grandpa as a person and preserve his history for our family.

APPENDICES:

Appendix A

Tips for Interviewing Veterans

Appendix B

The Veterans History Project

Appendix C

Various WWII Research

Appendix D

Pictures of Jack Gray’s WWII Experience