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Audio Recording Interview with Gertrude Westphal about her history and her experiences teaching children, Chicago, Illinois

Interview with Gertrude Westphal about her history and her experiences teaching children, Chicago, Illinois, part 1

About this Item

Title

  • Interview with Gertrude Westphal about her history and her experiences teaching children, Chicago, Illinois

Names

  • Swenson, Greta E. (Collector)
  • Westphal, Gertrude (Interviewee)

Created / Published

  • Chicago, Illinois, April 28, 1977

Headings

  • -  German Americans
  • -  Ethnography
  • -  Interviews
  • -  Illinois -- Chicago

Genre

  • Ethnography
  • Interviews

Notes

  • -  Gertrude Westphal #1 (German informant), part 1
  • -  Part 1 of a 3-part interview with Gertrude Westphal by fieldworker Greta Swenson; topics include how Westphal got into early childhood education, low income children, mentored by Margaret Bush, librarian in Oak Park; about the role of the library, family story hours, she “tells” stories (not “reads”), importance of oral delivery, use in classroom; about the mental representation of education, images and imagination develop, children want a tale every day, reference to Bruno Bettleheim’s Uses of Enchantment; about going from storytelling to dramatic play with costumes; importance of correct use of English; Cinderella is a favorite; about a girl who used “classroom English on stage, praise led children to group-goal oriented; explanation of the Child-Parent Center operation, the operation here reflects parent concern with language, desire from small groups, like a one-room schoolhouse; how imagination for writing comes from story telling, visit grandparents in the South on farms, led to story writing by students with an audience in mind; language development toward “proper” English important for low income children to find jobs later; importance of folklore (folk tales) with children, about Westphal’s mother’s influence; about the old country (Germany); Westphal learned German at home and English in school; about how Germans were unpopular in America in the period of the two wars and between; Westphal’s maiden name is Schraut, led to teasing in U.S.; her father is (was?) a janitor in the Englewood area; only whites in a black neighborhood, then moved to white neighborhood and called “n----- lover.”

Medium

  • audiocassette, C-60

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Call number: AFC 1981/004: AFS 20853a
  • MBRS Shelflist: RYA 0835
  • Field Project Identifier: CH77-T325-C

Source Collection

  • Chicago Ethnic Arts Project collection (AFC 1981/004)

Repository

  • American Folklife Center

Digital Id

Online Format

  • audio

Rights & Access

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Credit line: Chicago Ethnic Arts Project collection (AFC 1981/004), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Swenson, Greta E, and Gertrude Westphal. Interview with Gertrude Westphal about her history and her experiences teaching children, Chicago, Illinois. Chicago, Illinois, 1977. Audio. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc1981004_afs20853a/.

APA citation style:

Swenson, G. E. & Westphal, G. (1977) Interview with Gertrude Westphal about her history and her experiences teaching children, Chicago, Illinois. Chicago, Illinois. [Audio] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc1981004_afs20853a/.

MLA citation style:

Swenson, Greta E, and Gertrude Westphal. Interview with Gertrude Westphal about her history and her experiences teaching children, Chicago, Illinois. Chicago, Illinois, 1977. Audio. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc1981004_afs20853a/>.