Kloe Freeman

Published on July 31, 2015

Kloe-Freeman Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Transcript

CHLOE FREEMAN: Hello, my name is Chloe Freeman, and I was one of the Samford
STORI interns this semester. This semester I worked in the Birmingham Botanical
Gardens project and had the privilege of interviewing three major players in the
Gardens' history. I interviewed Sybil Ingram, who was an important member of the
Federated Garden Clubs for many years and has held many offices as well. Thelma
Stichweh has been volunteering at the Gardens and the library since the
seventies. I also had the opportunity to interview Eddie Aldridge, founder of
Aldridge Gardens in Hoover. Through the interviews I was able to learn about the
Gardens' history, as well as the history surrounding these three people's lives.
Learning about past ways of life was really eye-opening and interesting. I was
able to ask them about events like World War Two and life in the country in the
early twentieth century. The way they were so open with their life stories was a
very unique experience that I will look back on fondly. Reflecting on the
semester, I have really enjoyed taking part in preserving the narratives of
people who may have otherwise never had their story preserved from their own mouths.
That's what I enjoyed most about oral history, is being able to dive in with
someone who witnessed important, or even not-so-important events in time and
history and preserving the lens through which they saw it. Oral history is so
important, and one of the major takeaways I had was that we were not only
preserving stories but that it also makes the interviewees feel good that we
take an interest and we care to listen to their story. Being a part of a Samford
STORI internship was an excellent way to spend my semester and I would recommend
it to anyone who has any interest in oral history.

Audio Information
Attribute	Value
Interviewee	Chloe Freeman
Repository	Samford University Oral History Collection
Accession	SUHist/StudentReflections/003