Life Story Links: September 3, 2018
“The past is never dead. It's not even past.”
—William Faulkner
Hal B. Fullerton. 1899. Cranberry bog and drain in Calverton, Suffolk County, NY. Gelatin silver print, part of the Empire State Digital Network accessed via the Digital Public Library of America. All of the materials found through DPLA—photographs, books, maps, news footage, oral histories, personal letters, museum objects, artwork, government documents, and so much more—are free and immediately available in digital format.
Some Storytelling Inspiration
PUBLIC ARCHIVE
Graduate students in the Public and Digital History Seminar at UT Austin experimented with ways to make interesting archival materials available and useful to anyone with a computer. Check out the fruits of their labor, including photographs of the frontier and the paperwork of slavery.
ON GROWING OLD
“I just said goodbye to one of my clients,” Virginia–based personal historian Karen Bender writes. “Flo, 97 and on hospice, is going to live with her daughter in a different state for whatever time she has left.” Bender shares what “old age” means to Flo, from the book they worked on together.
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL GRATITUDE JOURNAL
Not all the life story projects Massachusetts–based Nancy West produces are traditional narrative memoirs: Here she shines a light on how to use photos to create a gratitude journal.
Opportunity Knocks
THE MAKING OF A FAMILY HISTORIAN
Wisconsin–based personal historian and educator Mary Patricia Voell offers a new online course designed to give participants of all ages the framework and tools to tackle their family history projects.
ARCHIVAL STORYTELLING
The New York Times is hiring a team “to exhume the photographs and stories that had been relegated to the dustbins of history and to explore anew the stories left untold.” Interested?
WRITING CONTEST
The Family Narrative Project is seeking entries for its 2018 writing contest: Submit essays that reflect the full range of family life by October 31 for a chance to win $500 plus a feature on their website.
VOLUNTEER WITH SENIORS
Check out the important work being done by Brittany Bare and her team at nonprofit My Life, My Stories, where marginalized seniors are paired with volunteers to help write their own memoirs. While in-person volunteering is currently only available in the San Francisco Bay area, there are other ways to help, too.
...and a Few More Links
Have you discovered the Digital Public Library of America yet?
My guest blog for Save Your Photos Month is about how to find what matters amidst all your digital clutter.
Foundation strives to put “a face” on history for younger generations
Podcast recommendations for life storytellers, creative entrepreneurs, oral historians, and anyone who loves a captivating first person story.
Short Takes