Oral History

One of the great things about Historic Preservation that many people don't understand is how the profession and study is so interdisciplinary. Sometimes I can find that frustrating; especially when trying to explain to people what I do, but most of the time I enjoy the diversity. One of the subjects I learned about during my undergraduate studies was folklore. All historic preservation majors were required to take one course in the subject, and in the intro class we had to record a World War II veteran's oral history. I haven't done any oral history projects since that class, but I am fascinated by the efforts of others, and hope to do a project of my own one day. The history of a place or building can be enhanced with photos, renderings, and drawings, but there is something about someone telling you a story set in that place that allows you to have a deeper understanding and appreciation. Here is a project that I recently came across. There is such hard work and dedication in this project, it's unbelievable. Theron Humphrey created the project entitled, "This Wild Idea". His goal:

I'm going meet 1 new person a day, everyday, for 365 days. The goal is to make images that age well and increase in value over time; images that will become part of your family story, which we can pass on to the next generation.

A photo from his website and project