Oral History of Shamokin

Project Description

 

Issue: As the parish demographic continue to age, we are losing the historic memory of many of our elderly parishioners. Their recollections go back to a very different time and situation in Shamokin. (I remember reading somewhere, “When an old man dies, a library burns to the ground!”)

Action: Create a guided audio/video interview with elderly parishioner allowing them to describe/reminisce what “Life was like in Shamokin 50, 60, 70 years ago.” What were the neighborhoods like, the employment situation (mines, factories, neighborhood grocery stores, shops, bars etc.), family situations, the role of the churches, ethnic diversity, humorous stories etc.

Goals

To record social history before it is lost, and doing so in a way that will allow us too share it in a contemporary manner. How can people, once this has started, participate from a far, if they have relocated to another state?

Constraints

We can discuss this.

Impact

Preserving history helps the community to learn from past mistakes, so they are not repeated in the future…the value of such a project could be seen as priceless.

Resources

We can provide the local memory in the minds and hearts of the senior members in town.

Group Summary

The history of Shamokin is being lost to time. Much of the local population is aging and their stories are not preserved anywhere. To keep the rich history of this area alive we need to create a collection of stories from the older generation

Identified Pains

• History is being lost
• There are many people alive with varying viewpoints about what happened in this area, and their oral history is not recorded

Proposed Problem Description

The oral history of Shamokin is dying. There are currently minimal records of these stories, and we wish to create a collection of these stories.

Proposed Goals

• Record oral history in a way that is easy to access
• Provide a technical solution for recording oral history

Contributors

Lucas Nicolois, Sienna Mosher, Allan La, Lukas Munoz, Matthew Rogge

Possible Existing Solutions

Record footage and upload to Youtube

 

Brainstorming

Bobby Cao, Thomas Ficcadenti, Lucas Gregory, Jingya Wu, Stefano Cobelli

BrainStorming sheet