1.3 Using the interview “Elberta's story: A humor moment”

By Kristin Post

Provided by UNC Libraries / Documenting the American South

Part 1

Introductory script

You are now going to hear Elberta tell a story about the house she had been living in, and how she and her family ended up in a flood shelter.

Preliminary questions

1. What emotions do you think Elberta and her family might have had when they woke up in the shelter? (prediction)
2. Imagine that you took a picture of Elberta at that moment. Describe what her face would look like. Think about her demeanor and body language. Use the photograph you have from the beginning of class for inspiration.

Play the humor moment oral history excerpt. Running time: 1 minute 17 seconds.

Download recording (Right-click or option-click) | About the recording

Transcript

We had five children at the time, and, me and my husband and five kids, and the house that we were in was a two bedroom house; we were renters, we wasn’t buyers, buyers and home owners. I would pray, because when I left Maryland I had a big house, and when I got here I was kind of disappointed. But my husband was, “We’re going to buy a home. We’re going to buy a home.” And I was like, “Well, Lord, I can’t believe you had me come down here in this little house like this, you know.” But the Lord just told me to trust him. So when I was, I woke up—they took us when we left here from the flood to the shelter. It was at Burgaw Middle School. And I woke up that morning, and I just was overwhelmed, and the tears just came. I said, “Well, Lord, I asked you for more space.” And I look and I see all of us had our own cots, you know, “but I didn’t expect you to give us more space.” But it gave me joy. It was a humor moment. So, you know, it wasn’t nothing but Him that was giving me peace in it. But it was just so humorous when you—he didn’t say you’ve got to be persistent or you’ve got to be precise about what you want. So I did ask for more space, and I had more space at the shelter, but that wasn’t my idea when I asked him. [EH is laughing.]

Follow-up questions

1. Where was Elberta living before she moved to North Carolina?
2. Elberta describes a few conversations she has—to whom is she talking?
3. Where was the shelter she went to?

Part 2

Introductory script

We will listen to her story again. As we have learned, this story reveals a lot about Elberta and her faith. Faith is a very important theme throughout Elberta’s entire oral history. This is one small excerpt that tells us a lot about Elberta, some of her hopes, some of her feelings about adjusting to a new place, and her reactions to her situation after the flood.

Apply literary analysis to her story this next round. How does she set up the story? How does she build up to her humor moment? How does she employ the use of contradiction?

Play the humor moment oral history excerpt. Running time: 1 minute 17 seconds.

Download recording (Right-click or option-click) | About the recording

Transcript

We had five children at the time, and, me and my husband and five kids, and the house that we were in was a two bedroom house; we were renters, we wasn’t buyers, buyers and home owners. I would pray, because when I left Maryland I had a big house, and when I got here I was kind of disappointed. But my husband was, “We’re going to buy a home. We’re going to buy a home.” And I was like, “Well, Lord, I can’t believe you had me come down here in this little house like this, you know.” But the Lord just told me to trust him. So when I was, I woke up—they took us when we left here from the flood to the shelter. It was at Burgaw Middle School. And I woke up that morning, and I just was overwhelmed, and the tears just came. I said, “Well, Lord, I asked you for more space.” And I look and I see all of us had our own cots, you know, “but I didn’t expect you to give us more space.” But it gave me joy. It was a humor moment. So, you know, it wasn’t nothing but Him that was giving me peace in it. But it was just so humorous when you—he didn’t say you’ve got to be persistent or you’ve got to be precise about what you want. So I did ask for more space, and I had more space at the shelter, but that wasn’t my idea when I asked him. [EH is laughing.]

Follow-up questions

1. What do we know about Elberta from this story?
2. Think again about the photographs you looked at before. Try to make up another reason for the facial expressions of the women—keeping in mind the idea of contradiction. Write a paragraph telling one of the women’s story.

• Next: For students

For teachers

• Next: For students
• Previous: Using the interview “What was the shelter like?”

Learn more

Related topics

• Search LEARN NC for more resources on Elberta Hudson, Hurricane Floyd, North Carolina, Pender County, Thomas Hudson, White Stocking, disaster relief, floods, and oral histories.