In Our Own Words: Portraits of Brooklyn Vietnam Veterans opened at the Brooklyn Historical Society in December 2007 and, while it is a temporary exhibit, there are no plans as yet to de-install it. One of the featured Vietnam veterans, who actively supports Iraq Vets Against the War, suggested BHS keep the exhibit up for as long as American soldiers are in Iraq and Afghanistan. This exhibit was the first to be launched in BHS's Oral History gallery.
Curating this exhibition was a long, fruitful collaboration among BHS, Brooklyn College oral historian Philip Napoli, and exhibition designer Alison Cornyn. While all the narrators had signed releases giving Phil and BHS full copyright, we decided that it was important for them to approve the final edits of their audio portraits. All 16 narrators attended one of two listening sessions where we played their audio portraits for the first time in this group setting and asked for feedback. We recorded these feedback sessions and the following clips illustrate why it was such an important step in the process and a powerful event for everyone involved.
The following clip from the feedback session begins with the very end of Tony's audio portrait, then the first voice you hear is Philip Napoli, followed by Tony's response.
Anthony Wallace's response to hearing his audio portrait for the first time:
The feedback sessions had the unplanned effect of uniting the veterans (despite huge differences in political opinions then and now) and solidifying their feelings of ownership of the exhibition and connection to BHS, which has only increased over time thanks to their frequent visits and very willing participation in BHS public programs.
If it is not clear from this clip, Joan is explaining that the way that the audio portrait is edited in the draft version, the listener does not know the context of her statement "within two weeks, you're dealing with it all..." i.e. that this is her reflection on her very first day at the Evac Hospital, in the middle of a mass trauma situation, and that's why she felt so overwhelmed. It is important to her that the listener understand the extremity of the situation. Interestingly, the way Joan remembers telling Phil this story (chronologically, setting the scene) is not the way she actually told it in their interview. I did find the clip (below) and we all agree that her suggestion to add this to the beginning of the audio portrait (even though this is not the way the story was told during her interview) is more true to her intended meaning. Most interesting to me is how she speaks in the second person, says "you know" a lot, and in other ways makes it clear that it is important to her that the listener identifies with her as she remembers these experiences.
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