Building Community, Building Archives in Any Institution

People love to share their thoughts. They want to announce what is important to them. They want to see if what is important to them is important to others. They want to acknowledge shared traditions, noting differences, and making others' knowledge part of their own. One of the primary purposes of Archives is to capture individual experiences and to hold them together with other life stories. This enables our communities and those yet to come to extend their community circle. The stories that sit on our shelves are the stories of US. The archives represent individuals who have been acknowledged by us. Their experiences have been saved so that they may share their thoughts and we may make their knowledge part of our own.

Festive winter picture adds to the ambience
of this post. (Yes?)

These experiences do not need to just come to us passively to enter the Archives. We can build them. You can build experiences (and traditions) at a genealogy conference, in a public library, or with your family in your home. December is a ripe time for building community experiences - capturing the laughter and love, and creating a circle that brings in those who might normally feel left out. This is a difficult time of year for many and your institution can be a grounding force if you choose that path.

With all of this in mind, I have designated December as a special month in my institution. My goal is to help bring my large school community together in my library, to capture the experience of togetherness and to build upon it throughout the year. Each December we will pause to focus on traditions and diversity by bringing a microscope to who were are as a group.

So what did we do?

We began in November with our Tree of Thanks. This is the second year we've done it and it is wildly successful. The students love telling us for what they are thankful. We have people who tell us they are thankful for family. We have students who wrote the names of their best friends. We had others who were thankful for their phones. etc. etc. Some of the thanks are unusual, many are the same - togetherness and diversity in one. All of the leaves we placed on our tree last month have been saved and put in our school archives.

This month we are building a paper chain that lists our favorite books. What began as a simple way to decorate our library and generate some discussion about reading has become a challenge. Some students told me that they don't like to read, so I made them reach back to their early childhoods to remind them to think about how much they loved Dr. Seuss or Winnie the Pooh. Some students still didn't have anything to write down or resisted, so we've been having conversations about why they don't like to read. I ordered some books without words to show them another way of "reading" and we can build from there. We are hopefully building a tradition and culture of reading. Our main immediate goal has become to build a paper chain that wraps all the way around our large library. English teachers are grabbing piles of colored paper so that their classes will write books down and bring them to add to the library chain. I've been walking around every period talking to students and getting those slips into their hands. I then take their slips to add or let them add their own links to the chain if they want. And yes, the paper chain will become part of our school archives.

Last month we had an exhibit about food traditions that included recipes from our school community. Yes, the recipe book will become part of our archives. This month the exhibit morphed from looking at our own local foods to examining foods around the world. We took it one step further. Every Wednesday is food tradition sharing day this month in the library. I brought in potato pancakes this week. One of my marvelous library assistants brought Bucle de Noel. A family that is very active in our community supplied Hanukkah cookies. (Thank you community Mom. You know who you are and I assume that you are reading this! ;) We offered the food at the end of an early period of the day. It went fast. Word spread throughout the school fast. I walked around the library and asked students if they had tasted those foods and what they thought. Everyone liked the food and very few had tasted those dishes previously. We've asked staff and students to bring in their own traditional foods this coming week. I can't wait! The foods we offer this month will be noted and included in our archives. I'd love to build this up next year to capture students reactions...hmmm, maybe I can do that next week.

We have an extensive craft table set up this month to make ornaments that students can take home or hang on our "tree of thanks." The tree of thanks has morphed into a December holiday tree. I am trying to tell each and every person I see in the library about the craft table. Saved ornaments? Part of a special "archives" that will be reused each year so we can remember past students. Also, this month we will also have our second annual chess championship. This year it will become a Chess and Checkers event. We have a certificate of achievement handing on our wall with last year's champion who was a senior. We remember him and his certificate will be removed and stored in the school archives to make room for this year's champion.

We are making paper right before the holiday. This paper will bound into journals to help celebrate our school's anniversary...but I'll give more information on that in a later post.

And on and on...I have goals to bring the food sharing to the halls next year. I envision English classes writing poetry to put in our Archives. (It's poetry slam month and I'm judging in a week.) I can see our inclusive activities growing and being a regular part of the library and archives each and every month with December putting a cap on it all.

Yes, all of this can be done at home. Some of it can be done in your office. It can most certainly be adapted for your library, archives and museum. Record, record, record your events. It matters to your sense of community.

Have a very happy holiday season. I'll try to write at least one more update before the end of the year and I will also fit in the ArchivesInfo annual Top Ten and Year in Review.

Feel free to comment and share your family, archives, library and museum December inclusive traditions. I'd love to here them!

Giving Thanks in the Library and Archives

I love going to my local antique shop to seek out ephemera for each holiday. This year I found this postcard to put us in a seasonal mood. In fact, it snowed here in New England last night and the wind howls as I sip my coffee. It was hard to focus on the holidays with recent warm temperatures. Now it's time to wrap ourselves in and plan for the traditions that make the season a special one for your diverse communities.

In our school library, I continue to try to bring a sense of community and heritage.I began a Thanksgiving tradition at home with my daughter many years ago. We cut out leaves and over the course of November we write all the things for which we are thankful and tape them to the wall. This year, I changed the wall tree to something that stands in the middle of the floor. I spent a lot of time cutting saplings in my garden this year, so I brought some branches in. I also brought some branches to my library.

Students are usually very happy to contribute their thanks to our tree. They are thankful for friends, family, phones, sports and many, many nice things. We had a wall tree last year and have saved the leaves in our school archives. It will be fun to keep track over the years of the different things for which the different generations of students are thankful. 

I've also brought the idea of food traditions into the library with a display that encourages contribution of recipes and memories. After Thanksgiving, we are asking families to contribute a family seasonal dish one day a week, so that we can introduce the teens to food from different ethnic traditions as another way to build our community. 

Once again, the archives and library are playing a part in community building. I have a lot of great things planned for 2014 including a retired teacher's reunion as part of an oral history event, library stations throughout the school, a community wide journaling project, and much more. Education and cultural heritage institutions are a perfect fit and can help form a solid foundation for community building inside and outside of a school. I give thanks for the opportunity to help with this endeavor.

Veterans Day

Today I give thanks to all those who fought and served for my country. I specifically reflect on the Veterans in my family.

My Grandpa served in the U.S. Army as a foreign civilian after World War II. I am proud of the mental strength he exhibited after the horrific experiences he endured with my grandmother coming through that war. To all who serve our country, Americans and non-Americans, thank you for your work. I would not be here today if it weren't for our Veterans.

I am also personally tied to two strong men who stormed Normandy. I am thankful to my Great Uncles Sid, Joe, and Sol and the stories they shared with me when I was very young.

The stories are a bit twisted in my head. I can't remember for sure if Sid or Sol served, but it was Uncle Sid who sat and told me about his childhood more than any of my grandmother's other brothers. While as a child I appreciated and was wowed by the tales he told, I wish I had truly understood their importance. I wish that I had recorded his voice or taken notes when he spoke to me. Instead, I am left with the flawed memories of my 40 something year old brain.

Give thanks today by honoring and documenting your veterans.

Keeping Holiday Food Memories

This is the time of year when we all start thinking about feasts in New England. The weather is growing colder. Most of the planted food has been harvested from our farms (and from our backyards if we are gardeners.) All that remains to eat outside my house are the herbs, which are waiting to be chopped up and put in my turkey. This time of year I begin thinking about Aunt Louise's Sweet Potato Pie, Mom's matzoh ball soup, and our Christmas Ham or bird.

I keep a little recipe box in my kitchen. Some people have migrated their recipes online, but this is one thing that I prefer to keep on paper. Cards, stained with grease or slightly sticky with sugar crystals, get pulled from the little box each November. Generally, I don't like to cook. I make dinner each night, but rarely do I get fancy. This time of year is different. This time of year I am after the feasts or the sweet gifts in my recipe box. This time of year is a time for memories. I'm making them and keeping them.

I talk in my archives presentations about my mother's homemade pizza. She made dough from scratch every Sunday. She made homemade sauce out of garden tomatoes, froze it, then defrosted it from our large basement freezer to be used as the pizza sauce. Fresh cheese --added 4-5 hours after her whole pizza cooking process began -- would greet the three little hungry faces of her children who stared into the oven. "When will it be done Mom? We're hungry!...That smells so goooood!"

I make pancakes once in awhile. I hope my kid will remember that. Yet, I am pretty sure that the special memories I'm making with food are from the holidays. I am under no delusions that the everyday cooking around here will be remembered. I am not known for my cooking. No one is going to say, "Grandma Melissa was a great cook!" Yet, it would be nice to leave some food behind that embeds itself in my daughter's brain and makes her mouth water just from the memory.

A couple of years ago, my friend Sue and I wrote a food memories workbook to help people think about and keep family memories that our important to them. Though our work has taken us in different directions, for now, the workbook is still a valuable tool for recording food memories and keeping alive traditions for future generations. One of my favorite exercises is to create a food biography. This is a perfect thing to think about this time of year. I'm encouraging staff and students to think about their food memories with an exhibit and worksheet at the high school where I teach.

At home, for Thanksgiving, I have my favorite homemade cranberry recipe. My daughter will probably always remember that Dad prefers canned sauce and Mom will make the homemade, even if she (I) am the only one who will eat it! Aunt Louise's sweet potato pie has been a staple on my family table since I was a kid. This may be the one recipe that gets passed on forever. We have Stovetop stuffing (for her Dad and Granddad) and fresh GF stuffing for her mom and Uncle William. My husband bakes gluten free pies for all of us. We have our Turkey stuffed with vegetables. The rest of the meal may change each year. I have a nice carrot pear soup that I pull out once in awhile. Sometimes we make peas with pearl onions...but the staples will always be there --on our table and hopefully in our memories.

So how do we keep the memories alive? Besides my little recipe card box and a food memories workbook that I will pass on to my daughter, here are some other ways to embed the traditions:

• Cookbooks - add comments to the margins as you improve recipes. Note who likes what, when you cook it and memories associated with times you have eaten eat
• Talk it up! Bring your kids into your kitchen and talk about that fresh cranberry sauce. Every year, for awhile, I would hear, "Why are you making cranberry sauce when we have canned?" This year, my daughter said to me, "When we go shopping for cranberry sauce, don't forget that we need the two kinds."
• Take pictures. Take pictures of your food prep work, or have someone take a picture of you preparing the food. Take photos of your table and the people at your table. Consider creating a photo essay
• Record conversations about food at your holiday table. (I am beginning to use the Voice Library to record oral histories.)
• Have your kids help you in the kitchen. Have them taste test and add to your menu
• Make holiday menus. This is another good way to involve the kids!

Most of all, stay warm, enjoy your family and have a great time preparing those feasts -- especially if it is the only cooking that you will do all year.

A Deckle and a Community

As the Information Specialist at a local high school, I am taking the first steps in a two year preparation leading to my high school's 50th anniversary celebration. I am focusing the celebration on information and history to show how our past has grounded as and will help lead us to the future. This is an exciting opportunity to lean heavily on my archives expertise to support the education of our students. At the moment, our efforts are focused on three very broad areas.

• Search for a rumored buried time capsule and building of our own
• Creation of a school archives by collecting existing materials and documenting unwritten history
• Work culminating in re-creation of Winter carnival past events 

The creation of a school archives will show students the role that their school plays in their community.  In so doing, it will allow students to better understand their own role in the world and in history, while at the same time protecting our group knowledge of events for posterity. The final celebration itself will boost pride and self understanding. The celebration will become part of our recorded history while highlighting the value of that history.

Image from http://theopenend.com/2009/01/25/how-to-make-handmade-paper/

Next month we are making paper journals. I have been talking with the town's "Main Street" organization to place books in businesses in the area. We will encourage people to record their reminiscences of the school in the books. I have a college intern working to promote this effort. I am also coordinating my efforts with the help of the public library and historical society. In fact, the director of the library is the one who brought the journal idea to the table. She came in with an article about another community that made journals and said that she thought it would be a nice piece to our work. It really pays to collaborate!

• " Collaboration helps us learn and gives us more ways to access information. It enables us to rely on the diversity of a group to accomplish tasks. It gives us multiple perspectives for more efficiently solving problems, which can make us more capable of follow through on a wide-range of tasks. With a network for collaboration, we are smarter. If we spread our network far enough, someone can help us answer the questions for which we have no answers ourselves. Collaboration can help us grow ideas and garner new tools for information seeking behaviors." [M. Mannon]

I like the handmade aspect of our planned journals. For one, while this first outreach effort is meant to involve adult community members, it is important for our students to be part of it at the outset. While later we will ask students to write their own reminiscences, we want them to see that the community has an attachment to our school, that we do not operate in a vacuum, and that community support is important for education...So to my deckle....(I just love that word!) We are building a deckle to create handmade paper. We will do this leading into school vacation and the holiday season. The artistic element and thoughts of community feel ripe for December. Paper will be bound into our journals and early next year, I will ask for student help to put the journals out beyond school walls.

And here we go...I look forward to sharing more as we continue on our way!

Publicizing Your Historical Society at Local Events

This past weekend I attended a fall festival where the local historical society had set up a table. The table included a few artifacts, a sign listing the institution's name and hours, some flyers for historical society events and some decorations. The table would be of interest to historical society fans, but to few others in the community. This has prompted me to post a few tips for those of you who are trying to boost awareness of your institutions at tables during the holiday season.

• If you are going to decorate, do it right. A couple of pumpkins and a few leaves at a pumpkin festival is not going to catch the eyes of your audience. (A nutcracker won't do it at Christmas time either.) Think themes and dive in! My library assistants recently made paperback pumpkins to decorate our space. They have gotten a lot of attention. People stop to look at our tables because the pumpkins first catch their eyes. Think unusual, classy and seasonal. DIY decorations are in. Find someone creative in your organization and set them on a mission.

• Create eye catching signs. Stenciled letters and glitter glue scream cheap and unprofessional. Find an artist to do your sign. Or, splurge on a large sign from a company to advertise your work. I splurged on a canvas sign for ArchivesInfo  a few years ago and it was great for displays at book signing events. It showed off my business and hid the supplies I needed under my folding table. 
• Think exhibits! Your table should show off your best side and some of your best items. Bring artifacts to display or photographs of artifacts. Write label copy describing collections. Take the time to explain the provenance of your items and the context. DO NOT COPY INFORMATION ABOUT THE ITEMS OFF OF WIKIPEDIA!!!!! Personalize the experience. Show how your items are relevant to your community.
• Think about your audience and your POTENTIAL audience - Your table should not be aimed solely at people who are already interested in historical societies. If you advertise only to these folks, you are in jeopardy of losing any audience for your organization in the near future. Think about what would attract a young audience. The table I saw had included this idea. They advertised that they were running their train display at the historical society that day. Yet, most of the people who would be interested in the trains would never come to the table to see the advertising because there was nothing there for them. Offer candy. Show off a real train. Give away stickers. Think about what kids like. Think about what young parents want to show off to their kids. They are not going to take a chance to go to hop in their car and drive to your organization from a fun seasonal event if you do not prove to them and their kids that it is worth their time. They are not even going to drag their kids to your table unless you cater specifically to families. Make it easy for parents to convince their children to go. Show them the fun!
• Having a special event for adults? You still should think "show, don't tell". Photos of items you are having at an auction may gain you attendees. Images from past events could do the trick too. Publicize information you have about local families, homes, businesses. Include things that bring back memories and will get people to come over to talk to you.
• Bring membership forms! Seek members at the event! Get as much information from attendees as you can. Ask for emails. Ask people what interests them about their community history. Ask about their family history. Do this to show that joining your organization relates to what is important to them.
• Try to excite the senses. Think sound (old music playing softly from your table perhaps?). Think modern sights (maybe a computer slideshow on a tablet at your table?). Think taste (maybe some old-fashioned treats to give away, or even to sell as a fundraiser?) Think touch (Maybe keep some items at your institution that you are willing to have people play with and bring these to shows to spice up your table?)

• Think of your publicity as an extension of your institution. Is your institution stuffy and boring? If not, don't make your display table appear that way. 

Gifts of Heritage 2013

As the leaves begin to turn here in the Northeastern United States, we begin to think about the holiday season. In past years, I have posted about making holiday gifts of heritage. [Gifts of Heritage 2011 ;  Gifts of Heritage 2010] This year, I am going to post about finding gifts. Fresh from my local Comicon event, I am thinking about the things from our childhoods that bring back memories. Giving items that bring back holiday memories for the recipient is fun, but it is also fun for each of us to set out on a mission to find items from our past.


Love for Comics Span Generations

Last week, we walked through the aisles of the Granite State Comicon searching for My Little Pony items for my young crazed fan. MLP has a huge audience these days. In fact, My Little Pony was an "in" toy for 80s children a few years younger than I. Today's audiences are a whole different breed. Kids today like the big eyed ponies, rather than the rounder bodied ones of my youth. The ponies are also popular with "bronies,"which was something unheard of in my day. Comic books bring us together and could make a fabulous heritage gift for any living generation. For my parents, Howdy Doody and Superman comics abound. For me, it was the Marvel superheroes, Archie, and Casper. Check your local comic book store, Ebay, or the local garage sales to seek those characters who bring back happy memories for the holidays. One does not need to be a collector to enjoy a bit of one's most fun childhood reading material.

Food Heritage Gifts

 I'm big on creating and recalling memories with food. Consider filling a Christmas stocking with a comic book and some good old fashioned candies. [Consider that it's also not too late to buy some heritage candy for the Halloween season, since I got a jump start on this column early this year!] Many companies these days offer the candies of old. Search Google for "old fashioned candy."

When I was young, my holidays were filled with potato pancakes and matzoh balls. We don't make these things often enough in my house. While many of us still hold on to cooking and baking traditions, so many of us have given them up. We bake cookies in December in my house, but when I was young my mom covered the dining room table with chocolates that she gave as gifts to teachers and others who helped us throughout the year - chocolate covered cherries, chocolate and mint wafers, peanut butter cups...she even made a chocolate house for the family to enjoy. It would be nice to bring back some of those traditions from my childhood to share with my kid.

Toys with Memories

I plan to include this photo of me drawing in a gift of
brush markers for my daughter this coming holiday season.

The toys from our past still make great gifts and can bring back comforting memories. Do you have memories of a favorite toy? Consider sharing your love for that item writing down your memory of it and including it in a wrapped gift to a child. For example, I remember sitting in our large front hallway zooming Matchbox cars back and forth with the neighbors. My daughter loves to hear stories of my childhood and sharing it through my childhood toys adds to the interest.

This year, I began bringing games into my library for my students. I brought in some of my thinking favorites such as Mille Bornes and Battleship. I asked the high school students what else they wanted. Reminiscing about their earlier childhoods already, they asked for games such as Candyland, Monopoly and Chutes and Ladders. I was surprised that teens wanted to play these kids' games. I was equally surprised that so many of their games were games that conjured memories from my own childhood.

So when thinking about gifts this year, think about those memories that you can share. Think about connecting generations with gifts that appeal to all. Go out and look for them if you don't have them in your home. Bring your child to help you find gifts for your significant other. Talk to your parents and spouses about their most special old toys and foods and try to bring back that feeling of "specialness". They say that you can't really ever go back, but you can keep the memories alive. And, you can create memories for future generations based on past traditions.