h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Y'all have to see this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FE30a4J38Q

Some kind soul has put up a compilation from 1929 of sound interviews with ordinary people from 70-103 years old.

Think about it: 1929 is pretty much the first year you *could* make a sound movie. This is about as far back as you could reach.

People in these interviews participated in: the Civil War, the Columbian Exposition of 1893, technology changes in railways, the growth of New York City...

One woman remembers witnessing the Trail of Tears. A man was part of the Tammany Hall city government. Wow.

Notice something else: they all look exactly like your neighbours, bar the different clothes, hairstyle, and beards.

Moral: go out and interview some elderly friends, neighbours, or relatives if you have the chance. I'll bet they have stories to tell.



PS And yes, I noticed that all the people they interviewed were white...maybe we'll find some footage with more diversity...

And, as someone pointed out in the comments, forty years later people were walking on the moon.

It's a timely reminder that we are always living history - history isn't just some story that happens to be running alongside us.

Very true!

Not a film, but apparently the oldest sound-recorded memory is that of former slave Sarah Gudger who in 1937 described her long life including the meteor shower of 1833.
I did a search for 'Sarah Gudger' and came up with this link (but typically I've lost sound on my laptop so I've not actually listened to it - hopefully it is what I want it to be)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoIreNPkReM

<BB<

That Youtube recording is a re-enactment. Someone's reading one of the typescripts from the Federal Writers' Project. I keep trying to get everybody to read those narratives. They'll knock you over.

Sarah Gudger said she was 121 in 1937, and as far as anybody could tell, she was. Her father was named Smart Gudger. What an incredible story. But it was a written interview - actors recorded some of them for a documentary. Here's the text:

http://www.accessgenealogy.com/black-genealogy/slave-narrative-of-sarah-gudger.htm

But isn't it amazing that Marjorie Jones could talk to Sarah Gudger in 1937, and she could tell her about seeing the meteor shower of 1933?

There ARE audio recordings in the Library of Congress, though I couldn't find one by Sarah Gudger. Here's the list I found:

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/voices/title.html

Here's a Mississippi lady named Irene Williams singing to John and Ruby Lomax. It's three minutes long - toward the end, she sings 'Come, Butter, Come', which is a song to coax butter along. What a beautiful voice:

http://memory.loc.gov/master/afc/afc9999001/4011a.wav

I remember posting about 'The Night the Stars Fell' someplace, it might have been here, but there is no way I could find it again

It was a very real event, actually a meteor shower, that got the attention of many. Several of the stories were from African American slaves who witnessed it as young children. I could find a link, but I will let you look it up, unless you ask - nicely

F S

DG only because you mis-typed 1933 (it was 1833) I will post a link http://www.texasreader.com/the-night-the-stars-fell.html there are many more reports for those who are interested.

F S

Thanks for doing that! Sorry for the typo. That was indeed, a major meteor shower.

Galaxy Babe has written 'Amazing Comets and their Impact': A87817783
I wrote about William Miller and the 'Great Disappointment': A87888631