Oral History Program
 |
Jason Law, our volunteer Oral History Program Coordinator and a student at D'Youville College, with Stephanie Sadler, a SUNY Fredonia student, interviewed Lt. William S. Strapko on January 10 as part of the Oral History Program. |
Museum Awarded Grant for Oral History Program
The North Tonawanda History Museum has been awarded a $5,000 grant from the Max & Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Inc., of White Plains, New York, for the Museum’s Oral History Program.
The grant will enable the Museum to continue development of its Oral History Program under the coordination of Jason Law. Law, a D’Youville College history major, has assisted the Museum for the last year in developing the format for its oral history program. Law has also worked with Museum representatives in the recording of personal interviews and Museum programming. The ultimate goal of the project is to provide area high school students with an opportunity to participate in intergenerational interviews. The initial programming will provide a concrete demonstration and testing for the long-term project.
1. SHARE YOUR MEMORIES PROGRAM
The Education Committee and Collections Committee will:
- Develop a base of college, high school and secondary school history, English, art and other teachers to participate in the program.
- Invite North Tonawanda residents and former residents who are willing to be interviewed in order to share their memories of life in North Tonawanda in years gone by to participate.
- The life or lives of an individual or family, business, church, etc., will be assigned to one student, a group of students, or a class, and also to interested non-student volunteers, to interview a living person willing to share their memories in one or more of the following forms:
- Written history
- Oral Audio - taped history
- Oral Video - taped history - Completed history to become a permanent part of the collections of the North Tonawanda History Museum, with a backup copy provided to the North Tonawanda Public Library.
This program was announced publicly in the fall of 2003. A D'Youville College history major has completed an internship on the format for the oral history program, including legal documentation necessary and a reference sheet for students and volunteers utilizing the North Tonawanda Public Library resources on local history.
2. JOURNEY BACK IN TIME PROGRAM
The Education Committee and Collections Committee will:
- Incorporate students and educators in area colleges and schools (utilizing elementary and secondary level students and educators as well) and other volunteers
- Assign the life or lives of an individual or family, business, church, etc. to a student, a group of students, a class, or an individual volunteer or volunterrs to:
- Research the life of an individual or family, business, church, etc.
- Create a written description or descriptions of the life of the person or family.
- Compose a first-person narrative or narratives from the written description.
- Create a costume or costumes based upon the life or lives of the person or family or business, church, etc.
- Role play as the individual or family or business owner or church member, etc., as part of a history tour or cemetery tour and/or part of an annual vaudeville type program with groups performing vaudeville type program with groups of re-enactors from North Tonawanda's history each year.
-
Completed history to become a permanent part of the collections of the North Tonawanda History Museum with a backup copy provided to the North Tonawanda Public Library.
-
This program can be combined with the "Share Your Memories" program as well by audiotaping or videotaping the performance.
-
Completed characters will be available for future use by other students perhaps in drama classes or other volunteers to re-enact.
-
Goal would be to develop at least six (6) new characters per year or more so that walking tours or cemetery tours would have changes of cast of characters annually.
This program was announced in the fall of 2003. A number of volunteers have been recruited to be incorporated into this program.