Oral History Project: the Back Story
North Bay Nugget February 16, 1972
COBALT (Staff) — Young women armed with pencils, paper, and tape recorders are fanning out from here, trying to recapture the history of the past. It is all part of the provincial-municipal winter incentive program and designed to aid the area in its tourist promotion efforts.
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The above is the headline and opening paragraph that announced the launch of what we today call the Oral History Project.
The “masterminds” were research specialists from Inter-Think Ltd., associates of another group, Project Planning Associates Ltd. of Toronto. The latter group was conducting a survey for the Ontario Department of Tourism, assessing the possibilities of the proposed Cobalt Restoration Project.
Funded by the province by a grant of $17,600, the project employed 11 people and was to last 17 weeks.
Another article from the North Bay Nugget on July 6, 1972 announced the official end of the project, at the same time offering more details as to the scope of the venture and the names of the local people involved.
“A special committee was set up to handle the project, comprising H. Arnold Todd, J. H Price, and. Mayor Jack Mathews.” Their goal was to collect for posterity the stories of the very early days, as well as gain insight into the residents’ thoughts and aspirations about the future needs of their town.
“The interviewers included Lucy Damiani of Cobalt; Mrs. Diane Zieman, New Liskeard; Mrs. Eleanor Huff, Haileybury; all team leaders, and interviewers: Mrs. Beula Lathem, JoAnn and Mrs. Carmen Stubinski, Mrs. Simone Bedard, Mrs. Barbara Riordan and office workers: Mrs. Lynda Cote, Sue Budko, and Debbie Sylvester.”
The team conducted over 1,000 interviews.
The transcriptions of those conversations were typed up and filed in binders at local libraries. The Cobalt interviews were digitized at one point were available online. Unfortunately, in the late 20-teens when the library’s website was rebuilt, this information was not included.
That’s were I come in. Back in 2017, I was invited by Tina Sartoretto to help bring these hidden resources back into the public domain. Click here to read more about that long drawn-out effort.
