STOCKBRIDGE, Mass.—The Oral History Symposiums focus on oral history and storytelling to record and keep stories for posterity.

 

The symposium will be held at the Red Lion Inn, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, on May 15, from 10 am-3:30 pm.  Registration is required.

 

According to a press release: 

 

At a time of disconnection and even isolation, we realize the tools we use in our oral history projects can strengthen communities. This symposium will help us create storytelling and oral history projects that intentionally use our listening and communicating to create connections and strengthen communities.

 

Symposium presenters include: 

 

Alisa Del Tufo, founder of the Threshold Collaborative and co-founder of Groundswell: Oral History for Social Change. Alisa pioneered the use of oral history/narrative work with those impacted by domestic violence and social injustice. For the past 10 years she has taught at Bennington College. Her courses are built around the theory and practice of listening: Oral History for Social Change, Restorative Justice, and Participatory Action Research. While teaching, she continued to run the Threshold Collaborative; while working around the country, Threshold partnered with community organizations to help them use the power of narrative to build personal and social change.

 

Sarah-Jane Poindexter, a Roving Archivist for Massachusetts State Historical Records Advisory Board, travels the state to provide support, advice, and encouragement to cultural heritage institutions working on care and management of their collections, including oral history collections. Prior to her work in Massachusetts, Sarah-Jane was Manuscript Archivist and Co-Director of the Oral History Center at the University of Louisville Archives and Special Collections, and Curator of Special Collections at the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, KY. Her work with oral history projects and managing oral history collections is invaluable, as most projects greatly benefit from starting out with a goal for presentation, safe archiving, or both.

 

Jean Minuchin, director of World and Eye Arts Center, and Anaelisa Jacobsen, founder of Manos Unidas, Multicultural Educational Collaborative, recently completed "Raices de Cuentos/Roots of Stories," a community oral history project in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Their project concluded with an art exhibition, and is being archived with the Digital Commonwealth, supported by a grant from Mass Humanities.

 

Tickets are $30 per person and include the symposium, coffee/tea, and lunch.  Registration will be limited.  The deadline for registering is May 7.

 

To register:

https://app.tickettailor.com/events/upperhousatonicvalleynationalheritagearea/2146263