“Paragonah Through the Years”

Service Learning Project

April 26, 2002

Corey H. Judd

HIST 2710

            Service Learning is a valuable opportunity for both students and the community with which they work.  The service learning packet distributed at the beginning of the semester defines service as “a helpful activity, sometimes a duty, accomplished for the benefit of others.  This understanding of service provides the foundation for community service, volunteerism, and service learning opportunities.”  Both students and the larger community can benefit from such a program.  Students benefit from the knowledge and experience gained through working with the community, while the community can draw on both the youthful enthusiasm of students as well as valuable college resources that might otherwise go unused.  Colleges and Universities, especially small ones such as SUU, shouldn’t be unassailable fortresses of higher learning, but rather an outgrowth of the communities in such a way that both are strengthened.  Cooperation should be the goal of service learning to build bridges between people.

            This project is a continuation of a project from last semester (Fall 2001) in which another student and I worked compiling video interviews documenting the oral histories of several residents of Paragonah, Utah.  We worked with the Paragonah chapter of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, with Hazel Jean Robinson as chairperson, to find suitable people to interview and gather other valuable materials.  Much of the project consisted of organizing and planning, as well as the actual interviews.  When completed, the project had recorded eight interviews totaling about six total hours of actual taped time.  Then came the question of what to do with this valuable historical information.  While recording and transcription of the interviews is a necessary and valuable part of recording history, we were concerned about how many people it would actually reach.  That’s when the idea was presented to compile the videos into a documentary-style format, complete with narration, photographs, written stories, and even original music about the town.  While ambitious, it was a great idea and we decided to move forward with it.

            There are several important factors to the feasibility of such a project.  Producing a film is no small task, and we started with what we were most familiar with, gathering materials.  The DUP was assigned most of the work in this category, and they made specific assignments to gather photos, music (Paragonah has an extensive musical history), and even an eight-millimeter filmstrip.  Ray Lynn Johnson compiled over forty short autobiographical histories of about a page each, some of which were handwritten by now deceased residents as long as ten years ago.  I had already filmed a number of interviews last semester, and it was my job to search out the feasibility of using college resources.  

            My first contact at the college with Dr. Jon Smith, chair of the communications department, was not very encouraging.  It seemed that we did not yet know what we were getting into, and I wondered if we had gone too far and should settle for something a little less ambitious.  I had hoped that I could be shown how to use the editing equipment and do most of the work on my own.  I learned that I was a little naïve in this respect.  The only way that it could work would be to assign a film student to work with me, but all of his students were currently working on other projects.  Furthermore, he pointed out some of the difficulty in producing a long piece, and his students didn’t have the time or expertise to produce anything over fifteen minutes.  He hinted that anything longer would have to sacrifice quality for quantity, and he focuses his students on short, but very high quality work.  As if this wasn’t discouraging enough, I also was shocked to learn the costs associated with the use of film equipment.  He said that they had just done a short piece of about five to seven minutes for the Iron Mission State Park and had given them a greatly reduced price of $500.  Normally it costs about $1,000 per minute to produce a documentary, and the thirty-minute piece he had just completed called Miracle at Kap Yong about the 213^th field artillery in Korea had cost roughly $60,000.  My jaw just about hit the floor.  There was no way that we could ever afford even a tenth of that price.  Thoroughly discouraged, I was about to go back to the drawing board, when he mentioned that Tom Cunningham in the library might be able to help.

            Through a series of phone conversations and e-mails with Dr. Cunningham, I learned about the IDEA Lab, a computer audiovisual lab in the library that might be open to students with proper approval.  He explained that the editing could be done completely on computer, then printed back to a video when finished.  All I needed to do was submit a proposal including an outline of the project, our needs, and the intended beneficiaries.  Following is an excerpt of the proposal and Dr. Cunningham’s response:

To Whom It May Concern:
                Over the course of the last semester and the beginning of this one, I have been working with the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers on an oral history project recording histories of several Paragonah, Utah residents.  Thus far we have recorded approximately eight hours of interviews, more than forty pages of personal histories and stories, much of it handwritten by people who have since passed on, gathered a large number of photographs, and even found an old eight-millimeter film reel.  We would like to compile this information into a format that could incorporate this information.  Our needs include the technological equipment to record audio, still photos, written stories, and possibly even live video.  Dr. Jon Smith of the communications department recommended the Idea Lab as a good resource to compile this information.  Our intended audience includes the current and former residents of Paragonah, local historical groups such as the Iron County Historical Society, local libraries in Parowan and Cedar City, as well as anyone else interested in the oral histories of people from the last century.  Our primary purpose is to record this information for future generations.  As far as the DUP goes, there is no definite due date for the final completion of the project, but to fulfill the requirements of the Service Learning Project for History 2710, I would like to begin work as soon as possible and, if necessary, continue through the summer.  Thank you for your consideration, and any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,

Corey H. Judd

________________________________________

Dear Corey,

I forwarded your proposal to the Dean of Library Services, Diana Graff. Your request is strengthened by the fact that it is supported by Dr. Mulderink as a faculty sponsor.  Furthermore, it is a worthwhile
project, consistent with other ongoing projects in the library to preserve oral histories; therefore, I recommended that we grant your request.

Dr. Graff agreed to grant you access to the Faculty IDEA Lab facilities and equipment to work on your project during the remainder of spring semester and continuing through the summer.

Tom Cunningham

________________________________________

Thomas H. Cunningham, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Library Media
Director, Center for Faculty Excellence
Coordinator, Library Instruction & Training

This approval rekindled my hopes quite a bit, and I was excited to learn to use the audiovisual equipment.  I met with the DUP to discuss our progress, and made an appointment with Dr. Cunningham for some brief training on the equipment. 

            This orientation was certainly brief.  Dr. Cunningham was good enough to show me how to copy videos from a VHS cassette onto a program called Final Cut Pro, but he then explained that was about all he had ever done on the program and from there on I would be basically on my own.  At one time he had a lab assistant who knew how to use the program, but had since left the university.  His statement that I would be “on my own,” proved to be prophetic.

            Because no one knew anything about Final Cut Pro I set out to learn how the program works and how it could best suit our needs.  Fortunately, the program includes a very helpful tutorial in which you produce a short film (which happened to be a documentary about swing dancing) from a number of raw clips already on the computer.  While this tutorial was crucial to understanding the basics of the program, it also revealed the first major problem I encountered with the software.

            For some reason, the audio wouldn’t play during editing, and as I am not very good at reading lips, especially on a computer screen, this would make any editing virtually impossible.  The audio played fine on raw clips, or when recording to video, but due to a glitch in the software I could not listen to audio while editing.  After a great deal of reading in the manual and troubleshooting, I came across a solution entirely by accident.  One day, prior to editing, I forgot to close the capture window in which video is recorded.  To my surprise, the audio came through perfectly.  I later learned that while connected to external audiovisual equipment, in this case a TV monitor and VCR, the computer speakers are disabled.  The reason for this is so you can use a TV monitor when editing to get a “real time” view of what the final product would look like.  There are only enough cables to go either from the TV to the computer or vice versa, but not both.  Because the hardware was configured to copy from videocassette to the computer, no sound was traveling back to the TV monitor and the computer speakers were disabled.  I was relieved to overcome this hurdle.

            The computer had a number of other problems and limitations to work through.  The next problem I encountered was while recording video onto the computer.  For some unknown reason, the audio and video would record at different rates.  At the beginning of a two-minute clip, for example, the audio and video would be perfectly in sync.  By the end of the clip, however, there would be as much as a three second discrepancy between the two.  This was a persistent problem that I suspect is related to the hardware configuration, with which no one at the college is familiar.  After a great deal of tinkering, experimenting, and referring to the manual, I learned that adjusting the speed of the audio to approximately 98.2% of the video (give or take a few frames) would generally fix the problem. 

            With that issue finally resolved, I could now dedicate the majority of my time in the lab to the actual logging and rough editing of video clips.  This was a little more time consuming than I originally thought it would be.  The process consisted of reviewing each interview of about an hour, then clipping segments ranging in length from thirty seconds to three minutes.  When completed each approximately hour long interview was reduced to about ten minutes of material.  I spent a little more than fifteen hours total time compiling the video clips. 

            Following is a table of the time I have spent over the course of the last few months.

As one can clearly see, it takes a great deal of time to edit audio visual material.  As the semester went on, I became better and more efficient at copying and editing video, and the table reflects that improvement.  It also reflects the time I spent trying to solve problems and meeting with the DUP.

            While getting closer to finishing capturing the clips, I realized that the amount of memory provided may become a problem.  The hard drive of the computer I was working on has a capacity of about 25 Gigabytes, 15 of which were free space.  A sixty second video clip on the best quality requires approximately 500 megabytes, or .5 gigabytes, so I had about one hour of total recorded time to work with.  Soon memory began to run low, so I looked at ways to conserve it.  It helped when I started clipping video at the “high” quality instead of “best” and couldn’t tell any difference between the two..  It also forced me to become a little more discriminate in the number and quality of the clips I chose.  I spent some time deleting clips that weren’t as relevant, as well as further editing of longer clips to get the best portions of them.  Tom Cunningham suggested that he had some old material that he could copy to CD to free up some space on the hard drive.  When I completed copying the video, there was about 2.5 Gigabytes left and I had used about 13 Gigabytes.  It seems that the problem is resolved, for now.  If this problem persists, I have two potential solutions when I begin rendering and editing a final piece.  One is to transfer the files I have already compiled to another computer in the lab that has about 45 Gigabytes of free memory and complete my work there.  The only way to copy such large files is over a network.  There might be some problems with this technique because the computers are not currently networked well and there isn’t much support for Macintosh computers on campus.  If possible, however, it would provide more than adequate memory for completion of the project.  The other possibility is to complete the film in fifteen-minute segments, printing each segment to video as soon as it is completed, then deleting the files that go with that segment to free up more space.  I like this idea because it breaks up the work into more manageable sections.  I think this is the method I will first try in the future.

            The project this semester focused primarily on finding a way to produce a film and copying the video interviews to the computer.  As soon as finals are completed I will begin editing the first segment of video, the introduction.  The remainder of the video will be put together over the course of the summer.  I want to finish work on the project before classes begin in the fall. 

            The primary beneficiaries of this project have been the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers and anyone interested in the history of Paragonah.  Without the help of the University, such a project couldn’t be possible.  The main help has been with the technological equipment and knowledge.  Recent breakthroughs in image editing software and hardware have made it possible for small local groups to complete difficult and complex projects such as this one.  Without the use of the university’s equipment we never could have come this far, nor would we be able to complete the project.

            The purpose of Service Learning should be to build bridges between the university and the community, and we have done that.  I have found it to be an educational experience, having learned a great deal about personal histories, how world events can affect a small town, and how to use sophisticated software.  Incidentally, this project has benefited the university as well.  Dr. Cunningham asked if I might work part time next fall as a lab assistant to help students and faculty use Final Cut Pro for audiovisual projects.  I have already emphasized that no one at the university previously knew how to use the program.  Hopefully this will enable me to continue to do service, both for the community and the university, in the future.

Appendix A: A condensed rough script written by Hazel Jean Robinson

NAME OF VIDEO:  “Paragonah Through the Years” or “Paragonah Memories”

“It’s Just a Little Street”  (song with slides)

NARRATOR:  “What makes Paragonah such a special place?  Why is this square mile such a wonderful homeland?  Why do so many continue to live and make their homes in the place of their birth?  Why do we hear newcomers say they felt they were directed to make this their home?

            “Could the reason be due to the pioneer heritage of the area? There are now living here 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th generation descendants of those original pioneers who first settled the valley in the early 1850’s.

            “Perhaps it is because of the friendly nature of the residents and the welcoming hand they extend to those who choose to settle here.

(Have appropriate music with narration)

NARRATOR:  “some residents of today remember earlier times of trial and hardship.  The “great depression” was an era of much distress to some families, while others seemed to manage without such disruption.

            (Ken, Lester, Homer, and Hilma clips)

The bombing of Pearl Harbor and World War II brought great changes.  Most able-bodied men were drafted into the armed services.

            (Norma, Ted, Homer, Ken, Lester, Bud (tells of Lyle Robb))

Meanwhile, on the home front, young women tried to get along without their husbands - --- and, of necessity, there were shortages.

            (Hilma, Norma, Wilma (club/chorus)  Ken)

What great excitement took place when he war ended and the boys came home!

            (Hilma, Norma)

However, only a few years passed and the conflict in Korea was experienced

            (Bud --)

Finally our little town could return back to normal.  (Norma – stores)

            (Burton’s slides of houses, while Myron sings “Let the rarest of the World Go by”)        Also Wilma singing about townspeople.

(Do we want narrator to say something like:  “Many of the older homes are still inhabited, the earliest being made of adobe brick, made locally, from the red clay found in abundance….Logs were cut in the local mountains and hauled to town to use in the construction of log homes….and later, during the Bicentennial year of 1976, the small Town Hall was built using many of the same methods, under the direction of Amasa Stones, when Ivan Robb was mayor….

            (Homer telling about icehouse and smoke house)

                        Schools:  (Hilma,

In earlier times, farming was the main profession, which is carried on somewhat today.

            (Farm pictures, hay hauling, trucking)                “Skunk” song?

While it might be said there are more in the trucking business today than farming.  Paragonah could be termed a “bedroom community” since many who live here are forced to travel to other communities in order to find employment.

            (Wayne? Mark?  John R.?)

A recent comment made by a city dweller went as follows:  “if any kind of depression were to happen, I would want to be in Paragonah.  You have your own water system, coming from a spring in the mountains, your own power system at the head of the canyon, and many carry on the traditions of having a year’s supply of food.  You have a good work ethic and raise gardens and fruit trees, and most of you have a little wood stove – with plenty of fuel nearby in the canyons.  You would be much better off than most people.”

            (Lester, Ted, Hilma)

                        Song by Rhon Solomon:  “Beautiful, Peaceful Paragonah”

Paragonah has long been known for people caring about each other and looking out for another’s welfare.   (Norma, about Lowe and Melva)

Much of our heritage is centered around our faith.  Church buildings have played an important part.  (Hilma)  -- organ music Shirley’s 8mm

And today we say the “Church and town square”  (Hilma) Wilma: “take me home –“

Our town is surrounded by mountains.  While visitors feel they feel threatened by the mountains, to us we feel they are more of a protection.  No one ever remembers a tornado in the area.  As a means of recreation, the mountains become a veritable treasure, with fishing and hunting being very important to townspeople.

            (Pictures, slides, and music)

Mountain homesteads and ranches are still being used, and new cabins are occasionally built  (Helen and Ted’s)

Many photographers throughout the years have paused to capture the multitude of barns in the town.  Some old barns are still standing, some have been improved and renovated, and one new barn has been built. 

            (Video these – pictures of old barns)

Music has always been important in our town.  (Hilma – musicals, etc.)

(Wilma, “On the Street” – and telling about dances and parties)

(Anna and Charles doing old dances).  Dance tapes.  Photos.

(Wilma, “Paragonah’s Ragtime Band”)              (Christmas programs, Santa)

Today we try to keep old traditions alive.  While an Armistice Day celebration was always held; today we have a “Veterans Day” program to keep patriotism alive. (Photos)  July celebrations are still a favorite part of summer events (photos) and neighborliness will never go out of style.

            “The Paragonah Waltz.”