Preserve Your Own History

Holiday Project -Share the Story of Your Home with Others

Nov 27, 2006 Maryan Pelland

Bill Jackson tells you how important it is to pass tradition to others and share oral histories. Find out how and where to archive the story of your home.

As we get into the winter Holiday Season we all wax nostalgic. Here's a fantastic idea from writer Bill Jackson.

Being Remembered Means Telling Others

My grandfather is 91 years old. At least, that's what we think. He was born in St Louis in the 1910 – 1915 timeframe, and we believe his biological parents perished during the Spanish Influenza pandemic in 1918. He was adopted and raised in Pennsylvania, where he was a coal miner for over 40 years and the coroner of his county for 35 years.He has led an amazing life, one that I'm proud of as one of his grandchildren.

My problem is that I haven't written down all of his stories, and time is running short.His life is a canvas of experiences of which I have only partial knowledge. I want to capture those memories and preserve them in an unvarnished way for future generations. It doesn't matter to me if it's my own family that reads the stories or other people from around the world: I want my grandfather's life to be remembered.And my mother's parents, and my parents, and even me.

Our lives are so interesting: why should they be forgotten when we or the last of our living relatives dies? Oral histories tend to lose important details over time until eventually the story fades away. For example, on my maternal grandparent's side, we had a relative who fought in the Revolutionary War.It's been nearly 200 years since that time: how much do you want to bet that my Revolutionary War relative actually had a great deal of stories about fighting in the war that have simply been forgotten over the course of three centuries? I can tell you honestly that I wish I knew those stories.

I want to solve the problem of our disappearing history.Just as it is useful for young people to learn about the lives of people who lived before them, so too is it validating for me and you to write down some of our life experiences with the knowledge that at some time in the future, someone will read those recollections and at that time share a connection with us, regardless of whether we are still alive or not. Now that my grandfather is ill, I have become all too aware of how important it is to capture my own family history while I can.

It is an axiom of human existence that a person will be more interested in something that directly affects him than in something that doesn't. That's where my website comes into play: www.storyofmyhome.com.My site allows people to tell their own story using their home(s) as the location for those stories.There are two good reasons for this

1. It tends to jog peoples' memory and bring up memories that a person may have forgotten otherwise.
2. By focusing on homes, I'm allowing people who are totally unrelated to the story tellers to take an interest in those stories. How? People looking to move into new homes and neighborhoods tend to want to know everything possible about their new home. By associating a history with a home, you will know that every time that home gets sold, a new family will have an interest in learning about the former owners.They will come to the site and learn about you. In a very real sense, you become a part of a new family heritage.

Whether you use an internet site to record your history or whether you write it in a journal, I encourage you to take the time to write down your fondest memories. From a societal standpoint, I believe that the more you share your life with others, the stronger the bonds of our society become. And of course, you never know: perhaps some 200 years from now, one of your great, great, great grandchildren will wish they knew you better!Make it easy on them, and turn my hopes to reality!

MORE:

Where to archive your home story

Oral history guide

The copyright of the article Preserve Your Own History in Seniors/Grandparents is owned by Maryan Pelland. Permission to republish Preserve Your Own History in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.