Interview with L. R. Despenza, August 20, 2016

Partial Transcript: This is an unrehearsed interview for the Living History Oral History project. My name is JD Carruthers. Uh, today is Saturday August the 20th. We are at the James A. Ramage Museum in Fort Wright, Kentucky.

Segment Synopsis: Bob Despenza talks about research into period naval uniforms conducted by Northern Kentucky resident Steve Hessen. He says Hessen fabricates naval uniform reproductions based on examination of original uniform pieces in museums and archives.

Keywords: Battery Hooper; Civil War; Costume interpreters; Living historians; Living history; Northern Kentucky; Reenactors; Research; Uniforms

Subjects: Civil war.; James A. Ramage Civil War Museum; Kentucky--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.; United States. Navy.

Partial Transcript: Now let me ask you about yourself. Um, how did you get involved in, uh, reenactment, and, and, and how long and tell me about that.

Segment Synopsis: Despenza says he has been involved in living history since 2002 after his work allowed time off for the activity. He says his interest in portraying a Civil War-era naval officer came from his observation that the navy was under-represented at living history events and that his father was in the navy. He adds that he thinks the navy seems to be under-represented in historical literature. He says he sometimes portrays the historical figure George Brown who was a Civil War naval officer from Indiana. He says he portrays Admiral Brown in a first person voice.

Keywords: Battery Hooper; Civil War; First person voice; Living history; Persona; Reenactment; Reenactors

Subjects: Brown, George, 1835-1913; Civil war; James A. Ramage Civil War Museum; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

Partial Transcript: And, you know, before we started recording, you were telling me that, uh, the, when the Army, they, they were more cohesive after the war, but the Navy tended to be dispersed.

Segment Synopsis: Despenza says that one reason that the navy was not as well represented in historical memory had to do with recruitment. He notes that the army recruited from communities and deployed those recruits as units which established greater cohesion and community identity than the navy which split up recruits. He adds that the navy did not enjoy as favorable reputation in many communities. He discusses the riparian and inland mission of the Civil War era navy.

Keywords: Battery Hooper; Civil War; Living history; Reenactment

Subjects: Civil war; James A. Ramage Civil War Museum; Navies.; Sailors.; Soldiers.; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

Partial Transcript: So you, you were talking about doing school presentations and such. Uh, tell me about that. What, uh, what kind of grades and what kind of presentations do you usually do?

Segment Synopsis: Despenza talks about his educational presentations at public schools, which range from preschool through secondary school and includes ROTC programs. He talks about adapting his presentation for the respective age group. He discusses his uniform and collection of artifacts. He talks about the difficulty of displaying naval artifacts because of the impracticality of displaying the boat itself. He discusses the use of reproductions and original artifacts.

Keywords: Artifacts; Battery Hooper; Civil War; Costume interpreters; Costumes; Education

Subjects: Civil war; James A. Ramage Civil War Museum; Navies.; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

Partial Transcript: Um, when you do presentations, I'm wondering if you have any systematic or, or, or methodo--methodological, uh, approach to how you...

Segment Synopsis: Despenza says that he is a professional cultural interpreter, which contributes to his living history practice. He discusses how he organizes presentations around themes and repetition of message. He says themes and repetition adds to lesson cohesion and a better learning experience. He discusses Freeman Tildon's book "Interpreting our Heritage." He says he follows many of those principles as an interpreter but thinks that Tildon is not widely followed among reenactors. He distinguishes between those who do education and those who "burn powder" and describes living history as a continuum. He says some are interpreters, some are reenactors, and some are both. He agrees that portraying a specialty or occupation is more likely to involve education and interpretation than a generic soldier for example.

Keywords: "Stitch Nazis"; Battery Hooper; Civil War; Farbs; Interpreters; Living historians; Living history; Reenactors

Subjects: Civil war; James A. Ramage Civil War Museum; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

Partial Transcript: Mmhm. What's your, uh, experience with the level of public interest in living history?

Segment Synopsis: Despenza says that the living history movement is in need of younger recruits because the current practitioners are getting older and less able to participate. He cites the expense of the activity and high commitment levels as barriers to entry. He discusses how Civil War soldiers and sailors would have been young men, which creates an authenticity issue based on age. He says that he believes there is more recruitment of younger interpreters than reenactors, especially with regard to natural interpreters.

Keywords: Age authenticity; Authenticity; Battery Hooper; Civil War; Interpreters; Living history; Reenactors

Subjects: Civil war; James A. Ramage Civil War Museum; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

Partial Transcript: You actually portray a particular person. Not necessarily a famous person, but somebody that you've been able to identify in the historical record. You--you've done the original research on this person.

Segment Synopsis: Despenza talks about his research into Admiral George Brown to support his first person portrayal. He talks about how he prepares his audience with a third person voice introduction before using first person voice. He says he uses his hat as a visual prompt to signal to his audience transition from first person voice to third person voice, where wearing the hat is first person and removal signals third person.

Keywords: Battery Hooper; Civil War; Costumes; First person voice; Interpreters; Living history; Persona; Third person voice

Subjects: Brown, George, 1835-1913; Civil war; James A. Ramage Civil War Museum; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

Partial Transcript: I'm interested in, uh, knowing a little bit more about the material culture. Uh, where did you obtain all of these artifacts that you have?

Segment Synopsis: Despenza says that he obtains many of his artifacts from Ebay. He says reproduction firearms sometimes come from specialized vendors.

Keywords: Artifacts; Battery Hooper; Civil War; Interpreters; Living history

Subjects: Civil war; James A. Ramage Civil War Museum; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.