The Oklahoma Experience: In Our Own Words book discussion at Har-Ber Village Museum

Many of aspects of our past have been documented in the personal memoirs of ordinary people in this series of readings. Together, they create a collective autobiography of Oklahomans from the frontier era to the recent past. These Oklahomans stress their recall of good times defined by personal growth and relationships with family, friends, and neighbors. Their memories have been softened by the passage of time and the belief that they were strengthened by their experiences. Sometimes the writers fall into nostalgia or celebrations, yet the memories they share are also more complex, reflect harder realities, and point to bigger truths.

For the most part, these books are written by and about individuals known only to their communities or families, and they share a perspective rooted in the experience of ordinary people. These writers contributed to and were shaped by families, individuals, and institutions typical of the farming communities and neighborhoods that were still characteristic of Oklahoma a generation after their demise in other parts of America. Their memories help to create an understanding of the state’s past, somewhat different from the textbook history.

In fact as well as in memory, Oklahoma did not attain the levels of economic development and urbanization characteristic of the rest of the nation until well after World War II. This meant that most Oklahomans before that time were raised in communities where farming and the corresponding patterns of life shaped their existence. Oklahomans knew they belonged to a larger world, but they perceived its influences infrequently as remote and indirect. Work was defined by task rather than by the clock, while the seasons, agricultural cycles, regular religious revivals, community celebrations, and school terms marked larger units of time. A child’s world frequently consisted of as much work as play and school.

Many families lived on the verge of economic disaster only one step away from frontier living conditions. Isolation, limited access to medical care, and similar hardships added to their struggles, while the labor required of men, women, and children frequently made them old before their time. Even those who were relatively better off lived amid circumstances largely foreign to contemporary Americans. These writers, though, saw such conditions as barriers to overcome, the measure of their opportunity. Most achieved a degree of success, but balance the celebration of their accomplishments with a sense of awe and wonder.

The authors tell their stories to share, not to gloat, in much the same manner as traditional village elders. Much of their writing has the quality of communications from grandparents to their descendants. and many consciously address the future. Ultimately, they are exploring the meaning of their lives in the hope that others might profit from their experiences. The collective autobiography they have created permit present and future generations to pursue such meanings in their own lives and communities. In doing so, readers will also find that they are probing the soul of Oklahoma, gaining a broad appreciation of the rich and complex story of our past.

Books, services and other materials for this series are provided by Let’s Talk About It, Oklahoma, a project of the Oklahoma Humanities Council with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Funding for this series was provided by grants from the Inasmuch Foundation and Kirkpatrick Family Fund. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in these programs do not necessairy represent those of OHC or NEH.