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Jay Ruby
Oak Park Stories









Abstract:  A series of reflexive ethnographic explorations of a Chicago suburb - one of the most successfully integrated places in the U.S.  Four portraits  present an anthropological perspective of this “social experiment” through written and video portraits of African American, lesbian and WASP  families and an institutional portrait of the Oak Park Regional Housing Center, the core of the community’s integration maintenance polices.  Four  CDROMs and one DVD are currently available.  The first CDROM in the series portrays a middle-class African American family who appear to exemplify values and aspirations that make  possible the success of the village’s long term hope that Oak Park will continue to be a welcoming place for everyone.  The second portrays people living in one of the most “gay-friendly” suburbs in the U.S.  The family lived through the gay civil rights battles of  the 1980s and 1990s and have settled into raising a family and being part of the middle-class life of the village.  Like the Taylors they present  another aspect of Oak Park’s desire to accommodate and accept difference.  The third is an ethnographic family portrait of Helena Gervais McCullough, her daughter Katherine and son-in-law, Bob, that explores the role  of white Oak Parkers in the transformation of their community into an integrated and gay-friendly place.  The fourth is an ethnographic portrait of a unique organization that has, for over thirty years, aided in the village's quest to achieve and  maintain a geographically integrated place. It is the cornerstone of Oak Park's plan for diversity.  The fifth is a DVD about Val's Halla, an independent record store that is a cultural institution in Oak Park.  For thirty plus years Val has offered  her customers an incredible array of recorded music from classical to rap, both new and used.  In addition, the collective knowledge of Val  and her staff makes it possible to carry on an informed conversation about music and recordings.  Concert information is always readily  available.  As these cultural founts of musical knowledge are being rapidly replaced with Wal-Marts where employees know nothing about  music, Val's Halla has become part of the disappearing commercial landscape of small businesses run by knowledgeable people interested in  what they sell. In this film, Val talks about the changing role of the record store and muses about what Oak Park looks like from the vantage point of its counterculture.

Production Date:
04/01/05

Distributor:
Documentary Educational Resources
101 Morse St.
Watertown, MA  02472

Phone:
617-926-0491

Fax:
617-926-9519

Email / Websites:
docued@der.org

http://der.org/films/oak-park-stories.html

http://astro.temple.edu/~ruby/opp/

Running Time:
30

Medium:
DVD

Film Purpose:  These digital ethnographies, designed to be seen on a computer, combine text, photographs and video in an interactive  way.  The innovative works bring together the traditional publishing outlets of a book, a photo essay and film in a  way  that enhances the usefulness of all three.  Scholars will find these CDROMs useful as a reference source as well as a  teaching aid that can be used as a course text or required reading/viewing in the library. (VAL is the only DVD in the  series)

Film Audience:  This ethnographic film will be of use to anyone interested in American culture studies, that is, anthropologists,  sociologists, psychologists in universities, social studies teachers in elementary and high schools and specialists. It can  be used as required reading/viewing or on reserve in libraries as supplemental reading/viewing.

Role of the Anthropologist / Collaboration:  Oak Park Stories is authored by Jay Ruby, a recently retired visual anthropologist, who has spent the last forty years  exploring the relation between culture and the visual/pictorial world.  He has published numerous studies about  photography, film, popular culture and produced several ethnographic films and also founded graduate and  undergraduate program in the anthropology of visual communication at Temple University.  Oak Park Stories is the  culmination of his interest reflexivity as the village is also his hometown.

Filmmaker / anthropologist:  Jay Ruby, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA

Keywords:  diversity, American culture, community