Keeping history alive is the motto of the Frontenac Historical Society. One way to do that is to see our own lives as living history. If only our forebears had each left us their stories in their own words, we would have better insight into who they were and how they lived. Instead, we have to look at the facts of their lives, in the context of what we know about the world at that time, and guess what they must have been thinking and feeling. With the technical resources we have now at our fingertips, we can do a better job of telling our stories to those who might come after us.
Story Corps is an independently funded organization whose mission is to preserve and share humanity's stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world.
The Frontenac Historical Society has been awarded a grant to undertake a Story Corp project of our own - to collect the stories of local people, ordinary people, to create our own living history. The project will "kick off" on Sunday, May 15th which is this year's Open House event. The theme of the event is "Remember When?" It started with the idea of parents and grandparents bringing children to experience the games, tools and activities of their own childhoods in the 1950's and 1960's. Instamatic Kodak cameras, telephones with cords and dials, "45's on record players are among the items on display and available for hands on 'play'. It is our hope that this will provide an opportunity for interactive sharing among the generations.
As part of the implementation of that grant, the museum will provide the opportunity to share and record a private interaction between and among the members who would like to capture their experience of the day OR to record a Story Corp type remembrance. Such an interaction might include a long-ago memory, a shared family history, or even something like the recent experience of living in a pandemic. Museum staff will have a question like format if people want to use a script to guide their interaction.
Stories are powerful--and innately human. They help us understand one another, provide insight into other cultures, and time periods and increase our capacity for empathy"
Come and share your story on May 15th from 2pm-4pm at the Frontenac Historical Society.
