The HistoryMakers, the nation's largest African American video oral history archive, has begun the process of getting its video oral history interviews evaluated and critiqued. We want to have each and every one of our interviews reviewed and evaluated in order, and we were hoping that 30 members of the H-Net community will step forward and agree to review and critique 10 interviews each before year’s end. It takes approximately one day to do one interview (8 hours). So we are asking for 80 hours of donated time. We are looking for a collection that will be of use to the scholarly community and so we need your input on the front end.

Some of the questions we need to have answered are: 1) Did the interviewer ask historically relevant questions?: 2) What subjects/topics were covered? 3) What subjects were not covered that should have been?

Each evaluator, would:

1) Need to fill out an Evaluator’s form

2) Need to sign a confidentiality agreement

3) Do one interview at a time

4) Do the interviews assigned(we would try to make assignments based on research interest and expertise)

5) Be provided with a DVD copy of the interview

6) Need to complete the form following the procedures outlined by The HistoryMakers

7) Complete the review of each assigned interview on a timely basis and as scheduled.

In exchange, the evaluator would be permitted to use the interview for their own research as long as they site The HistoryMakers as a reference and provide us with a two copies of their work (i.e. book, paper, class project, etc.).

The following provides a sample list of interviews that we would want reviewed/evaluated. There are a total of 300 that we want to have done:

1. Zonia Way
2. Camille Billops - Artist & Filmmaker
3. Ralph Simpson - Educator
4. Blanche Burton-Lyles - Pianist
5. Wayman Smith, III - Attorney
6. David Steward - Business Exective
7. Ione D. Vargus - Educator
8. Frankie Muse Freeman - Attorney
9. Lisa E. Davis - Attorney
10. Jack T. Franklin - Photographer
11. Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe - Photographer
12. Earle Bradford - Business Executive
13. Louis Rabb - Educator
14. Jawole Will Jo Zollar - Choreographer, Urban Bush Women
15. Jim Alexander - Photographer
16. Larry Gladney - Physicist
17. Martha Brock - Photographer
18. Rev. Herbert Daughtry - Minister
19. Louis Stokes - Retired Congressman
20. Clifton Wharton, Jr. - Corporate Executive
21. Maurice Hines - Dancer, Actor, Director
22. Wayne Hewett - Corporate Exective
23. Marie Dutton Brown - Artist
24. Kevin Cole - Artist & Art Educator
25. Dr. Paul Knott - Physician
26. Pat Lottier - Magazine Publisher
27. Billy Williams - Former Pro Baseball Player (Cubs, A's)
28. Brian Lane - Fashion Designer
29. Dorothy Harrison - Former Sorority President (Deltas)
30. Robert "Buck" Brown - Cartoonist
31. Basil Paterson - Politician
32. Gen. Frank E. Petersan - General, U.S. Marine Corps
33. Mary Mitchell - Journalist
34. Cedric Smith - Artist
35. Robert Earl James - Business Executive
36. Emory Shaw Campbell - Entrepreneur & Preserver of Gullah culture
37. Dr. Levi Watkins - Physician
38. Robert "Glenn" Harris - Radio Talk Show Host
39. Fruteland Jackson - Blues Musician
40. Bishop Barbara C. Harris - Retired Episcopalian Bishop

Note that our interviews average three hours in length, but some are 6-7 hours in length. We look forward to your response. If you have any questions, please contact Frederick Adams at 312-674-1900 or info@thehistorymakers.com.