Saving Lives, One Story at a Time

2012-01-16T10:45:00.001-08:00

How Will You Be Remembered?

Stories touch lives and bridge the generations. Life stories give your posterity a glimpse of how you lived, what happened, the choices you made and why.

Now is the time to record these important stories in your own words and in your own way. By doing so, you open the possibility of being remembered by loved ones and influencing the generations to come.

The Utah Association of Personal Historians (Utah APH) is a nonprofit trade association organized to spread the word about personal history and share tips to simplify the process of creating one.

The year’s community outreach starts with workshops and introductory presentations at participating public libraries in ten Utah counties. The spring activities are free and open to the public. Plan to attend an event near you!

Utah Association of Personal Historians
2012 Community Outreach
Spring Schedule of Events

In-depth Workshops:

Preserving Personal History in Audio & Video Formats
(by Dave Homer and Don Walton)

Bingham Creek Library – 4834 W. 9000 South, West Jordan

Tuesdays, Jan. 24, Feb. 7, Feb. 21 and Mar. 6 at 10:30 a.m.

Herriman Library – 5380 W. Main Street, Herriman

Tuesdays, Jan. 17, Jan. 31, Feb.14 and Feb. 28 at 10:30 a.m.

Project-based Life Story Writing

(by Paulette Stevens)

Whitmore Library –
2197 E. Fort Union Blvd., Cottonwood Heights

Thursdays, Mar. 8, Mar. 22, Apr. 12 and Apr. 26 at 7:00 p.m.

Save Your Stories, Bind Your Family
(by Rose Marie Morrell)

Orem City Library – 58 N. State Street, Orem

Thursdays, April 5, 12, 19, 26, May 3, & May 10 at 10:00 a.m.

Questions? Contact us at myutahstory@gmail.com.

Please register for the workshops you want to attend.

Introductory Presentations:

Using Life Stories to Bridge Generations (no registration required)

Cache County –

North Logan Library – 475 E. 2500 North, North Logan

Tuesday, February 7 at 7:00 p.m.

Davis County –

Bountiful Library – 725 South Main Street, Bountiful

Thursdays, February 9 and February 23 at 7:00 p.m.

Iron County –

Cedar City Library – 303 N. 100 East, Cedar City

Thursday, February 2 at 7:00 p.m.

Salt Lake County

Anderson Library – 1135 S. 2100 East, SLC

Tuesday, January 31 at 7:00 p.m.

Magna Library – 8339 W. 3500 South, Magna
Monday, February 27 at 7:00 p.m.

              Salt Lake City Main Library – 210 E. 400 South, SlC
              Tuesday, February 28 at 7:00 p.m.

Sanpete County –

Manti City Library – 2 South Main, Manti

Saturday, March 3 at 11:00 a.m.

Summit County –

Park City Library – 1255 Park Avenue, Park City

Tuesday, February 7 at 7:00 p.m.

Tooele County –

Tooele City Library – 128 W. Vine Street, Tooele

Tuesdays, March 13 and March 27 at 10:30 a.m.

Utah County –

Orem City Library – 58 N. State Street, Orem

Tuesday, March 6 at 7:00 p.m.

Wasatch County –

Heber City Library – 465 E. 1200 South, Heber City

Tuesday, February 21 at 6:00 p.m.

Weber County –

North Ogden Library – 475 E. 2600 North, North Ogden

Thursday, March 15 at 6:00 p.m.

BOOK NEWS

One World, Many Stories can be purchased online (Click HERE to go to our Store Page) and at two supportive local bookstores.

Please take note of the following book signing events. Several contributing authors will talk about their experiences, answer questions and sign copies of the book:

The King’s English Bookstore – 1511 South 1500 East, SLC

Saturday, February 11 at 2:00 p.m.

Weller Book Works – 665 East 600 South -

Trolley Square - south entrance, SLC

Saturday, February 18 at 3:00 p.m.

Thanks to our parent organization, the Association of Personal Historians, for their continuing support.

Please visit the website for more information on the mission of personal historians around the world.

Click on this link: www.personalhistorians.org

Seeking Freedom and Dignity: Our Human Story

2011-03-14T19:42:00.000-07:00

by Paulette Stevens

As human beings, we are drawn to artistry and beauty, to a fascinating story, and the singing of songs. What we think and how we reason may divide us, but the expression of our common humanity—tales of valor and virtue, faith and freedom—can unite us.

To win the battle of ideas in this world, we need to wrap abstract concepts in the passionate cloak of a true and meaningful story. Then write it, sing it, film it, tell it!

Great stories artfully convey the principles of universal truth straight into the heart. Consider the biblical story of the shepherd boy, David, who with a smooth stone, a slingshot, and much faith fearlessly killed the giant enemy of his people.

Consider Homer’s poetic account of the battles for Troy in The Iliad and The Odyssey, or Victor Hugo’s stirring tale of redemption during the French revolution in Les Miserables. For generations, these classics of western civilization have inspired and guided us.

Our forefathers immigrated to this land from distant places, all based on the great American dream—a story of religious freedom, economic opportunity, and a government of the people, by the people, for the people.

The story into which we were born was powerful enough to shape the fundamental perspective of our lives. Added to this story are the questions we asked, the answers we discovered, and the actions we took—choices which molded the life perspective that our children inherited.

The events at Pearl Harbor in 1941, Birmingham in 1963, or New York City in 2001 translated into individual stories of sacrifice, courage, and heroism, both at home and abroad. Those times became part of our shared experience, too.

Today, the drama of history is unfolding at lightning speed. The current upheavals in northern Africa, which are changing the entire nature of the Arab world, were triggered by something mightier than the sword. The uprisings began with the heartfelt words of a powerful story, claiming the right to freedom and dignity.

Stories and songs boldly moved from person to person, country to country via the Internet, cell phone, and video. Rising up against a modern pharaoh, hundreds of thousands of voices responded, like these from Cairo, Egypt, in February 2011:

College student: “Our people want the right to change our leaders every four years in a democracy, like other countries in the world.”

Woman teacher, not wearing an Islamic head scarf: “Look, we are the silent majority that has been silent for so long, but not anymore.”

Mother: “We left our children at home and came here to fight for their future.”

Businessman: “I will stay here—I told my wife not to wait for me. There’s no way back for us.”

These voices of the human family cry out their truth. Because of them, generations of children are awakening to a new story, singing new songs, dreaming new dreams. In Egypt and elsewhere, the silent majority need be silent no more!

WE are those students, teachers, parents, and businessmen. At the moment of decision, we choose our attitudes and how the story of our own lives will proceed. What we have to say about the experience of seeking freedom, dignity, opportunity, and honor matters, and our posterity wants to understand it, from our own words.

To win the battle of ideas in this world, we need to wrap abstract concepts in the passionate cloak of our own personal, true, and meaningful stories. Then write, sing, read and tell them—again and again!

Copyright 2011 by Paulette Stevens

Resources for Writing a Riveting Personal History

2010-10-23T10:09:00.000-07:00

by Rainey C. Christofferson

Do you want to write a personal history your family won't be able to put down? Helpful resources exist for every budget. Here are a few to check out:

Books:

Breathe Life into Your Life Story: How to Write a Story People Will Want to Read by Dawn & Morris Thurston
Writing Life Stories: How To Make Memories Into Memoirs, Ideas Into Essays And Life Into Literature by Bill Roorbach
Writing the Memoir: From Truth to Art by Judith Barrington
You Can Write Your Family History by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack

Online Courses & Workshops:

Brigham Young University Personal Enrichment Classes (Independent Study)

WRIT 71 - Creative Writing: Developing Basic Skills
WRIT 72 - Creative Writing: Refining Your Technique
FHGEN 75 - Writing Family History
FHGEN 80 - Helping Children Love Your Family History

Brigham Young University University Courses (Independent Study)

English 220 - Composing Personal History (paper or online course)
History 433 – Writing Narrative Biographies (paper or online course)

Gotham Writers Workshops

Memoir Writing (be sure to click on the ONLINE option)

Writer’s Digest University

Other Resources:

Salt Lake Community College Community Writing Center (including Writing Coaching)
University of Utah Continuing Education (look for writing courses)
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (look for writing courses)

These are just a few of the resources available to help you improve your writing skills. Also look for workshops and courses in local adult education programs and university continuing education departments.

Copyright 2010 Rainey C. Christofferson

Fifteen Reasons to Preserve Your Personal History

2010-10-09T20:31:00.000-07:00

Contributed by Members of the Utah Association of Personal Historians

Need a little motivation to start preserving your personal history? Here are fifteen reasons to start today.

Exploring the turning points, life choices, people, places, and eras that shaped your life helps you and others understand how you became who you are.
In revisiting old wounds and adversaries, you view them with new, sometimes more forgiving, eyes. Crafting your story becomes a process of healing.
Writing from maturity, you develop sympathy for and understanding of the younger you who struggled through life’s challenges.
As you review and share your life, hearts soften and the silver linings come more clearly into focus.
You develop a deeper appreciation for people who helped you along the way, and your history gives you a chance to honor their influence upon you.
You develop gratitude for all you are, all you’ve overcome, and all you’ve been given.
You discover that your life has been unique, interesting, and meaningful.
You get to document your values and share lessons learned.
Those who write their histories live forever in their stories and in the hearts of those who read them. Those who do not may be forgotten in a generation or two.
Personal histories promote family unity, pride, and intergenerational bonds.
A parent’s personal history passes on words of counsel, confidence, encouragement, and love for generations to come.
Someone in the future will benefit from your wisdom and experience. (Yes, you DO have wisdom and experience.) Your experiences, lessons learned, and shared wisdom will inspire others to say, “If Grandma did it, so can I.”
Your story might make someone laugh. It might make someone cry. Either way, it will make a difference.
Your story lets you reveal to your descendants that at one time you really were young and spontaneous and fun!
Writing your history gives your descendants a sense of “walking in your shoes,” helping them understand what it was like to live through your experiences.

10 Tips to Jump-start Your Personal History Project (Part 3 of 3)

2010-09-24T12:15:00.000-07:00

by Rainey Christofferson

This week we share the final installment of our ten tips to help jump-start your personal history project.

First, let’s review tips 1-7:

1 – Decide whose story you want to tell.
2 – Determine your intended audience.
3 – Decide scope and budget.
4 – Choose a format.
5 – Create a system to organize your memories and stories.
6 – Start brainstorming. Use memory joggers to “prime the pump.”
7 – Start writing or recording your stories.

Now that you’ve written and organized your memories and stories, it’s time to decide which ones make the final cut, to choose images to illustrate your history, and to polish everything up for publication.

8- Decide which stories and images to include.
To help you select which stories and images to include in your final project, think back to tips 2, 3, and 4. Which stories and images will be most meaningful to your intended audience? How many stories and images will your scope, format, and budget allow?

Once you know which stories make the final cut, it’s time to refine your manuscript. Edit and rewrite your first draft to make sure you have not only said what you want to say, but you’ve also said it well. Aim for writing that is
• Coherent (logical);
• Clear (understandable);
• Concise (not wordy);
• Consistent (uniform in facts, style, and format);
• Correct (accurate and truthful);
• Captivating (engaging to the reader).

Once you’ve chosen the perfect images to illustrate your history, you’ll need to prepare them for printing. Your publisher can provide the scanning specifications you should use to ensure high-quality images. An image that looks good on your computer screen will not necessarily look good in print, so follow your publisher’s directions carefully.

As you choose the final text and images for your history, don’t expose yourself to legal and financial jeopardy by including copyrighted material without permission from the copyright owner. For copyright guidance, start with Carmack’s Guide to Copyright & Contracts, by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack. Beyond that, contact an intellectual property attorney for advice.

9 – Copyedit your manuscript and proofread the designed copy.
Make sure your text is complete and polished BEFORE you layout your book with images and captions. Have a copyeditor check your final draft for inconsistencies, spelling errors, and infelicities of grammar and style. Once the layout is done and images placed, even the smallest change can throw off the design, creating extra work and costing extra time and money. To avoid hassle, consider hiring a graphic designer to lay out your book using professional design software like InDesign.

Finally, be sure to have someone carefully proofread the final designed copy to catch design inconsistencies and overlooked typos.

10 – Publish your history using high quality archival materials.
To ensure your history will be around for generations, have it printed using archival materials that are designed to last. Consult your publisher for the solution that best meets your budget.

Bonus Tip:
11 – Get help when you get stuck.
Producing a personal history can be time-consuming and overwhelming. If you don’t have the time, skills, or resources to create the history you envision, don’t be afraid to seek help. Turn to family and friends for encouragement and assistance. Look for books, websites, workshops, and courses that address your specific needs. Consider hiring a professional personal historian. Whatever part of the process has you stumped, there are resources to help you. Contact the Utah Association of Personal Historians (utahaph@gmail.com) to learn more.

10 Tips to Jump-start Your Personal History Project (Part 2 of 3)

2010-09-09T14:21:00.000-07:00

by Rainey Christofferson

This week we're sharing three more of our ten tips to help jump-start your personal history project.

First, let's review tips 1-4:

1 - Decide whose story you want to tell.
2 - Determine your intended audience.
3 - Decide scope and budget.
4 - Choose a format.

Now it’s time to start gathering and organizing memories and stories to include in your history. But where do you begin? For many people, this is where the process gets overwhelming. The trick is to keep it simple and organized.

5 – Create a system to organize your memories and stories.
When you start brainstorming the stories you want to tell, the initial trickle of memories may turn into a stream and then a deluge. To manage the flood, create a file system (in a file box or in your computer) with folders labeled according to how you want to organize your memories. Here are some options:

developmental stages (birth/infancy, childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle age, etc.);
time spans (by decade or age);
educational periods (preschool, elementary school, middle school, high school, college/trade school, graduate school, entering the workforce, career, retirement);
family stages (childhood, dating, courtship, marriage, parenthood, grandparenthood);
themes (growing up, friendship, romance, parenthood, education, career, service, humor, tragedy, rites of passage, faith, life values, dreams and aspirations, struggles, etc.)

Whenever a memory pops into your head, make a brief note (just a few words to jog your memory when you actually begin writing or recording) and place it in the appropriate file. When you’re ready to flesh out a particular memory, you’ll have the note to remind you where to start.

6 – Start brainstorming. Use memory joggers to “prime the pump.”
Having trouble getting the memories to flow? Most personal historians have a list of favorite memory joggers they use with clients or in their workshops. Here are a few just to get you started (keep a pen and paper handy to jot down memory notes for your files):

Create a simple timeline of your life. Fill in key events from your life (birth, baptism and other religious rites of passage, high school and college graduations, births of siblings, marriage, kids, jobs, military service, relocations, deaths of close family members, and so on). Then add secondary events (first date, first kiss, first car, first job, illnesses, travel, and so on). Insert meaningful public and political events (wars, assassinations, disasters, elections, court decisions, deaths, technological developments, noteworthy sporting events, and more).
Draw a map of the community in which you grew up. Fill in your home, friends’ homes, and other key locations. Visualize yourself in these places, and you’ll start to remember people and events you may want to include in your history.
Draw a floor plan of a home you lived in or a school you attended.
Look through your old photos and slides; journals and diaries; scrapbooks; collections; letters and notes; newspaper clippings and magazine articles; personal documents and certificates; family histories and genealogies; video and audio recordings; family recipes; toys; furniture, knickknacks; artwork; and other objects. (If your photo and memorabilia collection is in disarray, take the time to organize it and store it using archival materials and methods.)
Make a list of family and friends who “knew you when. . . .” Talk to them (or even record an interview with them) about time periods, people, places, or events you haven’t thought about for a while.
Listen to the music from a particular time period. Does that chart-topping love song remind you of anyone special?

7 – Start writing or recording your stories.
Even in the middle of brainstorming you may get the urge to start writing or recording more than just notes. Great! Once you start fleshing out your story, make regular time for it. Set a writing or recording schedule and stick to it. And don’t feel like you have to start with your birth and forge through a timeline to the present. Organize your writing or recording process in a way that is meaningful for YOU and fits the format of your unique project.

Next time . . .
After you’ve organized and recorded your memories and stories, it’s time to decide which stories and images make the final cut for your personal history project. Stay tuned for the next installment (tips 8-10) of “Ten Tips to Jump-start Your Personal History Project.”

Copyright 2010 by Rainey C. Christofferson

10 Tips to Jump-start Your Personal History Project (Part 1 of 3)

2010-05-21T08:22:00.000-07:00

by Rainey C. Christofferson

Preserving your personal history can seem like a daunting task, but with a little forethought and effort you can navigate the process like a pro. Over the next few weeks, we’ll share ten tips to help jump-start your personal history project.

1 – Decide whose story you want to tell.
If you're thinking about writing or recording a personal history, chances are you already have someone in mind whose story you want to preserve and share: your mother, your grandfather, your child, your friend, yourself. If it's someone other than yourself, you may need to get their permission and cooperation. If they're deceased, enlist the help of surviving family and friends.

2 – Determine your intended audience.
With whom do you want to share your story? Your children and grandchildren? Extended family? Friends? The public? Knowing who your audience is will help you settle other important elements of the project, including the format in which you present your story, which parts of your story you want to focus on, and the tone and style you use to tell it.

3 – Decide scope and budget.
You don’t have to preserve your entire life story in full detail. Of course, you can if you want to, and many people do. But you can also focus on a single event, experience, or theme such as the following:
• your professional life;
• your courtship and marriage;
• a memorable vacation;
• missionary, Peace Corps, or military service;
• study abroad experiences;
• a meaningful relationship or life event;
• family reunions, recipes, stories, traditions, or values.

Or perhaps you just want to transcribe and publish a series of letters you and a loved one wrote during a time apart. You could even create a photo tribute of a beloved pet. It’s your history, so include whatever you want. Just remember, the larger the scope and the more complex the format, the more resources you’ll need to invest.

4 – Choose a format.
There’s no wrong way to present your personal history, so do what fits your personal style and budget (though you should try to preserve it in a lasting form using archival materials and methods). The possibilities are endless:

• journals, scrapbooks, and photo albums;
• photobooks with captions or short stories;
• a photo storybook with an audio recording of the subject reading the story;
• a hand-illustrated picture book;
• a full-length memoir or autobiography;
• a short book covering a single theme, event, or life period;
• a series of short books covering various themes, events, or life periods;
• a printed book of vignettes, personal essays, or poems;
• a printed oral history interview transcript;
• an audio recording of an oral history interview or narration;
• a video documentary;
• a video photo slideshow with music and/or narration;
• an ethical will (a brief but intimate statement of your personal values, beliefs, and advice for family, friends, and future generations).

If you have a theatrical bent, consider crafting your story into a performance piece (a la Timpanogos Storytelling Festival) to be performed at family gatherings or preserved on DVD, or write a script or screenplay for family members to act out and record on film. If you’re flexible, creative, and resourceful, there’s a format for just about any personality, skill level, and budget.

Next time . . .
After you’ve determined your audience, scope, and format, it’s time to start organizing your thoughts and your materials. Stay tuned for the next installment (tips 5-6) of “Ten Tips to Jump-start Your Personal History Project.”

Copyright 2010 by Rainey C. Christofferson