Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Oral History Keeps Cane Hill Memories Alive
CANE HILL — Stories from senior adults who grew up in the Cane Hill area show children played hide-n-seek, rode horses, played with marbles and did their share of chores both in the home and on the farm.
These stories are part of an oral history program sponsored by Historic Cane Hill Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to the historic preservation of Cane Hill and communities around it.
“It’s not just about saving buildings, it’s also about saving memories,” said Bobby Braly, executive director of Historic Cane Hill.
With a suggestion by Braly to record an oral history, Scott Davis, a member of Historic Cane Hill Advisory Board, volunteered to take on the project.
The two made a long list of people to interview on camera.
Davis said he especially became motivated to start the project when a long-time resident, Linda Doedo, passed away.
“She had the most wonderful stories,” Davis said.
Doedo would dress up for the Cane Hill Harvest Festival and tell about growing up in Canehill. Davis and Braly tried to record her stories but she was too sick and not feeling well.
“When she died, we thought we should have gotten her,” Davis said. “After that, we decided we had to do an oral history. That got us on the stick.”
Long-time residents were invited to Historic Cane Hill Museum last summer and Davis recorded interviews with about 18 people. Afterward, others approached him and asked to be interviewed. Most still live in the Canehill area. One lives in Georgia and another was from Arizona.
The uncut versions of the interviews are about 20-30 minutes. Davis edited each down to 8-12 minutes to give the highlights and also make it appear the person is just sitting there on a front porch talking about life in Canehill. Davis didn’t want to be a part of the story.
“The trick is the interview,” Davis said. “We let them tell their stories. It’s all the narratives of the people being interviewed.”
He said he believes having the interviews in the Cane Hill Museum, along with old photos, helped to jog memories of those as they talked about old times.
A good example of the importance of the project, Davis said, is an interview with Dwayne Pyeatt.
“Dwyane Pyeatt died in a truck wreck last year. His story would have been lost forever. He’s the one who has motivated me even more.”
Pyeatt, in his interview, said he had lived in Canehill since 1939. He started school in Canehill in 1945 and then moved to Lincoln schools in seventh grade after consolidation.
Pyeatt remembered going to Shaker Yates’ grocery store in Canehill and hearing the men tell stories. He helped his father feed chickens and milk cows.
“Back then, kids worked alongside their fathers. They didn’t sit at the house and play their computers,” Pyeatt said in the interview.
There were always chores to do seven days a week. Pyeatt also remembers the card game Rook was very popular and remembers women talking on the phone.
Braly said Canehill already has lost four or five longtime residents who were pillars of the community. They grew up in Canehill and went to school in Canehill. Their stories are gone.
Davis said he has talked to those from the generation who grew up in Canehill but also would like to interview the next generation. These would be those who visited parents and grandparents. They will still have vivid memories to tell, Davis noted.
Historic Cane Hill named Davis as its 2016 Volunteer of the Year for the oral history program.
Braly, who presented the award at the board’s meeting in January, said, “This collection of stories is one of the best things to come out of the Historic Cane Hill project.”
Many people appreciate the videos and the preservation of history through recorded stories, Braly added.
Davis said the project has been a lot of work but also a lot of fun. He continues to think of more people he would like to interview.