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“The most important unknown story of the Holocaust”
A brave group of Jews secretly chronicled their daily existence in the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust. Only one who knew where the archive was buried survived.
“The life of every Jew during this war is a world unto itself.”
So wrote historian Dr. Emanuel Ringelblum, founder of the Oyneg Shabes, an archive of documents and writings created clandestinely by Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto from 1940–1943 and considered to be the most important cache of eyewitness accounts of the Holocaust to survive the war.
Led by Ringelblum, a group of journalists, scholars, and community leaders in the Warsaw Ghetto vowed to defeat Nazi lies and propaganda not with guns or fists but with pen and paper. By recounting their experiences as they happened, from their perspective as Jews during World War II, these courageous souls were both bearing witness to themselves and risking their lives.
“I do not know who of our group will survive…but one thing is clear to all of us. Our toils and tribulations, our devotion and constant terror have not been in vain,” Ringelblum wrote.
As trains deported them to the gas chambers of Treblinka and the Ghetto burned to the ground, members of the Oyneg Shabes buried 60,000 pages of documentation in the hopes that the archive would survive the war, even if they did not, according to the film Who Will Write Our History, a feature documentary that tells the story of the archive and those who created it.
Of the approximately sixty individuals involved in creating the archive, only three survived; and only one of those three individuals knew where it was buried.
Film director Roberta Grossman declares the efforts of the Oyneg Shabes archivists to “scream the truth to the world” to be “the most important unknown story of the Holocaust.”
The feature documentary Who Will Write Our History blends archival and dramatic footage. “The thrust of the effort was to make the film as authentic as possible,” said filmmaker Roberta Grossman during a post-screening panel at the 92nd Street Y on November 19, 2019. “The overarching goal was to give the film the gravitas of documentary with great scholars like Sam [Kassow] and then to have the emotional pull of a dramatic feature.”
“Who Will Write Our History?”
On November 19 I attended a screening of Who Will Write Our History, a documentary I first read about more than a year ago. In the two days since, my mind—and heart—have been whirling with emotions and thoughts.
As a personal historian, I was heartened by the power of contemporaneous storytelling and the value of each and every person’s experiences.
As a woman, I was inspired by writer Rachel Auerbach, who dedicated her life to the documentation of and research into the Holocaust.
As a creator, I was empowered by filmmaker Roberta Grossman, whose seven-year journey to make this documentary was spurred on by “a sense of personal responsibility to tell a story that would otherwise remain untold.”
As a human, I am humbled and grateful to Dr. Ringelblum and his cohorts for remaining in the Ghetto with the express purpose of documenting the reality of life under Nazi occupation. “We can’t all run away,” he wrote.
The Oyneg Shabes “was one great act of accusation,” historian David Roskies says in the film.
Photo by Anna Wloch, courtesy of Who Will Write Our History.
Here, I share some quotes that moved me, and implore you all to see this film.
As Grossman remarked upon reading Samuel Kassow’s Who Will Write Our History? Rediscovering a Hidden Archive From the Warsaw Ghetto, the book which inspired her film: “I had spent my life voraciously reading about the Holocaust. How was it possible that the equivalent of the Dead Sea Scrolls rising from the rubble of the Ghetto had remained largely unknown outside of academic circles?” Indeed.
Indeed.
Further reading
See the film Who Will Write Our History.
Watch a video of the post-screening panel at the 92nd Street Y with filmmaker Roberta Grossman, producer Nancy Spielberg, and historian and author Samuel Kassow, with CNN journalist Dana Bash moderating.
The filmmakers have released an educational version of the documentary appropriate for younger audiences, along with a rich array of teaching resources—which, I might add, are wonderful for anyone interested in the film, not just students: Check out the guided questions and handouts for watching the film, as well as activities for dealing with the idea of “Countering the Single Story.”
Explore the Ringelblum Archive via Yad Vashem.
Life Story Links: January 6, 2020
The healing value of storytelling, how memories may be magnified during holidays, plus more delicious food memories and time travel, family history–style.
“This packrat has learned that what the next generation will value most is not what we owned but the evidence of who we were and the tales of how we loved. In the end, it's the family stories that are worth the storage.”
—Ellen Goodman
“My mother Hilary, aunts Kay and Peggie, and my grandmother Hilda. In those days people dressed up for outings!” wrote Richard Bridgland of this photograph taken at Stonehenge in 1932. Photo courtesy of Richard Bridgland/English Heritage. Read about an exhibition of family photos taken at the Stonehenge, below.
On the Menu: Memories
THE STORY OF A FAMILY, THROUGH FOOD
“My heritage lives in my stomach,” Catherine Lanser writes in “Instructions to the Past,” an ode to two slim, spiral-bound recipe books she inherited from her mother.
“AND THEN, I BAKE.”
Although she can find instructions for any holiday cookie online, Chicago writer Donna Vickroy prefers to pull out her mother’s handwritten—threadbare, dough-stained—recipes each Christmas. “Often, as I’m mixing, I tear up knowing that she was thinking of me when she grabbed pen and paper to write down these very words—butter, flour, enjoy.”
FOOD RITUAL & RECONNECTING
Sharing a family meal can help those with dementia connect. “A good meal made with love can draw out a person with dementia and bring them real joy…even if they've completely gotten to the point where they may not have that connection to the family story."
AN OVER-THE-TOP FOODIE HOLIDAY
Personal historian Sarah White remembers being a newcomer to her husband-to-be’s annual Christmas Eve feast—where family, friends, antipasti, and desserts proliferated amidst the Venetian splendor of his relative’s “Jungle Room.” Bonus: Auntie Mary’s grustali recipe.
It’s in the Telling
THE NAKED TRUTH
“Truth in life doesn’t automatically morph into truth on the page. And living people don’t necessarily come to life in print. It takes creativity—hence the term “creative non-fiction.”” Blake Morrison on how to write a memoir.
YOURS TO TELL
“A story can only be a story if it is told.” College sophomore Trinity Bland shares compelling reasons why her fellow students at San Diego State University should in fact share their personal stories.
CALLED TO SERVICE
“There are fascinating stories all around us, if only we ask,” prompts Maryland–based personal historian Pat McNess, and here she asks a lifelong friend about his time in the Navy.
HEALING EXCHANGES
“We play an integral role in saving history and recognizing the healing power of having one’s story recorded,” Wisconsin–based personal historian Mary Voell writes in this piece about the healing benefits of storytelling.
THE HOSPICE HEART
“Being present for and receiving a life story is one of the great gifts of [hospice] work,” writes Gabrielle Elise Jimenez. “When we are witnesses with presence and clarity...these snapshots and stories become gifts to us and create opportunities for healing...”
Time Travel,Family History–Style
STONEHENGE SNAPSHOTS
The oldest known family photo of Stonehenge dates to 1875, and can be seen on display with other pictures of the ancient stone circle in England, like the one above, at the visitor center through August 2020. If you have one to add to the collection, or would just like to browse the fun photos, click here.
‘THE SURVIVORS’
“Going back through my family’s history has deepened my awe for my grandparents and has given me a broader, more complex understanding of their experience...and the obligation that falls on each of us to uphold that heritage going forward.” On inherited trauma, and writing memoir.
Ringing in 2020
A JOY-FILLED COMMUNION
On the Eve of the December holidays I wrote about how the season can be difficult for those of us missing a loved one—but truly, this message is an ever-green one: Remembering our lost loved ones—out loud, with others who knew them—is a balm to the soul.
THE GIFT OF LEGACY
Tell someone, unequivocally, that they matter to you: By gifting them a chance to tell their stories, to preserve their past, to be heard and validated, you are letting them know that they matter—that they will be remembered.
NEW YEAR, NEW MEMORIES
Two resolutions guaranteed to bring joy to you and others—no low-carb diets or Fitbit tracking in sight!
RETROMANIA
“Every corner of social media seems to be using nostalgia to emotionally manipulate us, beaming us something warm and fuzzy on a cold, shiny screen.” Do we have a nostalgia fixation?
...and a Few More Links
Auschwitz survivor wonders: Was she the reason he was alive today?
Personal historian Gloria Nussbaum interviewed for Northwest50Plus magazine.
Google Photos launches private photo messenger.
Using Snapchat and Instagram as self-curated memory books
Scanner recommendations for digitizing old family photos
Short Takes
Life Story Links: December 4, 2019
A smattering of pieces on the distance between memoir and history, the importance of memories, storytelling as an act of restoration, plus unique gift ideas.
“The turning leaves of fall remind us how much beauty wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the life and death of each season that came before. This lesson in wholeness entreats us to pursue the whole picture of who we were made to be, to live in the abundance of our own story, and to know that each piece—the broken, the sad, the hard, just as much as the fulfilled, the good, the happy—plays into reaping the harvest of who we are.”
—Joanna Gaines
First Person Voice
TINY LOVE STORIES
In “From Romantic Tragedy to Romantic Comedy” readers share personal anecdotes of love in no more than 100 words—proof than emotion and story can indeed be conveyed meaningfully and succinctly.
WRITING OTHERS INTO BEING
Sema Kaygusuz’s grandmother “constantly talked about her impoverished childhood, about the older sister she lost at a young age, about the many djinns, spirits and beings from the other world whom she saw in her dreams,” yet she was silent about the trauma she witnessed in Turkey in 1938. Why?
MAKING HISTORY
“Despite their messiness, obscurity and fictions, individual lives are the stitches of the past.” At what point does memoir become biography and biography become history?
Bits & Pieces
WRAPPED IN MEMORIES
Last week I shared five fabulous gift ideas for any sentimental adults in your life, and I do believe each one is more unexpected than the next! Will you be putting any on your own wish list...?
THE ANONYMOUS PROJECT
“Storytelling can be yet another act of restoration.” On imagining the stories behind old photographs and slides gathered into a collection, sans context or captions.
...and a Few More Links
Inspired by Monticello’s Getting Word project, students launch UVA oral history project.
How people in the UK are preserving history for future generations with life stories
The Survivors: A Story of War, Inheritance, and Healing—a story where no one is exactly who they seem.
Twitter's plans to start deleting inactive accounts prompts digital legacy concerns.
Short Takes
Life Story Links: November 19, 2019
A wealth of personal history news, from immigrant memoirs to Thanksgiving story sharing, from archives of the past to the value of writing and remembering.
How
Do I
Listen to others?
As if everyone were my Master
Speaking to me
His
Cherished
Last
Words.
—Hafiz, “How Do I Listen”
In the kitchen, Hightstown, New Jersey, 1938. Photographed by Dorothea Lange, Russell Lee, Carl Mydans, Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. Photo courtesy Library of Congress.
Pass the Gravy, Tell a Tale
#THEGREATLISTEN 2019
Since 2015 when The Great Thanksgiving Listen was launched, thousands of Americans have recorded 100,000+ interviews, providing families with a priceless record of a loved one’s story for future generations to listen to and learn from. StoryCorps offers resources to help individuals and educators transform the holidays into a time of intergenerational sharing.
FOOD MEMORIES, PRESERVED
Launched in time for Thanksgiving host(ess) gift giving, these recipe card sets encourage families to record not only the ingredients and prep instructions for their favorite foods, but the stories behind them, as well.
A Case for Storytelling
GETTING RELATIVES TALKING
In “We’re Losing Generations of Family History Because We Don’t Share Our Stories,” California–based ghostwriter Rachael Rifkin shares her expertise for how to get kids, siblings, and parents talking.
FAMILY LORE
“Telling family stories about crazy Uncle Joe or other eccentric relatives is a favorite pastime when families gather for the holidays. But will squirming children or Instagram-obsessed teens bother to listen?” Yes, says research—and the impact is undeniably positive.
WRITING TO COPE
In The Lost Kitchen, an Alzheimer’s caregiver, Miriam Green, preserves memories of her mother through recipes and reflections. Green turned to writing, including recording family recipes, as a coping mechanism, and learned to enjoy “the present moments spent together.”
Preserving the Past, Uniquely
AN ARCHIVE OF CURIOSITIES & WONDERS
The Public Domain Review is “rocketing the oddities of the past into the present,” including galleries of historical artifacts and images as well as essays putting the various bits of ephemera it spotlights into context. A new book of collected essays is available for pre-order, too.
SAFEGUARDING FRAGILE MEMORY
In anticipation of seeing a screening of Who Will Write Our History at the 92nd Street Y tonight, I began reading up on the film and discovered a most unique historical treasure trove: UNESCO’s “Memory of the World,” which aims to preserve the documentary heritage of the world as a symbol of the collective memory of humanity (the 60,000 pages of eyewitness documentation of the Holocaust known as the Oyneg Shabes, on which the aforementioned film was based, is part of UNESCO’s archive).
HEIRLOOM ARTS
Portland–based personal historian Lisa Kagan announces a winter art workshop for women to “explore what resilience and renewal mean to you in the context of your personal journey.”
Recommended First Person Reads
MINE EYES HAVE SEEN…
“I started to wonder if I could ever give language to my grandmother’s memories across the generations between us. I began to doubt whether I could make my words bring to life all that she has seen, when I have never seen these things with my own eyes,” Julie Moon writes in this legacy-seeking piece.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Deirdre Bair, Samuel Beckett's biographer of record, recalls her first (long-delayed) meeting with the notoriously private author in this essay that makes me want to know more about their professional relationship over the next seven years; guess I’ll be checking out her latest book, Parisian Lives, which promises to “reveal secrets of the biographical art.” Listen to a brief excerpt from the audio book here:
ARTISAN OF WORDS
“We weave narratives as we weave cloth, and our words for them are bound together: text and textile share the same Latin root, textus, ‘that which is woven’,” Esther Rutter writes in “Making.”
...and a Few More Links
Eight inspiring immigrant memoirs from Celadon Books
California Camp Fire remembrance book shares “unified experience” of community.
Story Terrace relives their favorite revelations from TV’s Who Do You Think You Are?.
A family, a house, a city: The Yellow House, Sarah Broom’s memoir of New Orleans
Lest We Forget: Keep Their Stories Alive preserves WWI treasures and memories for a British digital archive.
Holocaust survivor and Oscar-winning producer of Schindler’s List dies at 87
Short Takes
Life Story Links: November 5, 2019
A virtual tour of what's worth reading this week about memoir, family history writing, and life story preservation, including how language impacts meaning.
“This has always been one of the cardinal problems of biography: to what extent can or should one tell the truth—and what, indeed, is the truth about any of us?”
—Iris Origo
Children playing on a front lawn in Washington, D.C., September 1935. Photographed by Carl Mydans, courtesy Office of War Information, Overseas Picture Division, via Library of Congress.
Foods of the Soul
THE LAST LAUGH
Over at The Family Narrative Project, Kim Winslow shares some flavorful tidbits from a relative’s repertoire—just remember to imagine Nana’s heavy Brooklyn accent, too.
“A CATHARTIC DINNER PARTY”
“Food can be such a lovely way into the heart of a story…. There's something about the sensory memories that really can pull us back into our childhood, or things we ate in times of celebration, or times of grief,” says Natalie Eve Garrett, editor of Eat Joy: Stories & Comfort Food from 31 Celebrated Writers, a book of personal essays, each paired with the “gift” of an associated recipe.
Matters of Memoir…
AN END-OF-YEAR-LIST TO BOOKMARK
Did your favorite make the cut in this list of the best memoirs of the past decade? I found my next few reads on the list, and enjoyed the critics’ comments on what distinguished each one.
MOTHER TONGUE
“It was my way of saying, ‘Yes, I know I’m married to English now, but Spanish was my first love.’” Reyna Grande on translating her own memoir into Spanish.
…Matters of Memory
VR REMINISCENCE THERAPY
When an eldercare team used Google Earth and virtual reality technology to ‘bring’ a patient with dementia back to her hometown in Sweden, the results were extraordinary: “She lit up with joy. She was smiling and pointing at the images. She started talking in her native language as she was touring us through the building.”
LIKE A SCRAPBOOK?
When I describe what I do to new friends, there is almost inevitably an excited reaction of, “How great, I never heard of that!” followed by genuine interest and lots of questions. One of the most common misassumptions is that I create photo books or scrapbooks for folks—so I decided to tackle that in last week’s blog post.
BLACK IN THE DAY
“The documentation of everyday moments and rituals led by Black British photographers allows us to look into the communities across the UK in a way that centers just being, rather than aiming to appease a white, mainstream gaze that often projects its own ideas of Blackness.”
All Is Not Lost
RADICAL EULOGY
“I have chosen to honor my family but also to honor my own experience as well—reconciling our differences and needs,” poet Diana Khoi Nguyen says about writing about her grief in the aftermath of her brother’s suicide.
SLAVERY, THE ORIGINAL IDENTITY THEFT
“To honor the memory, sacrifice, and very being of our ancestors, we say their name.” One woman feels called by her forebears to unearth her African American origins. Follow her journey.
...and a Few More Links
An excerpt from Still Here: The Madcap, Nervy, Singular Life of Elaine Stritch
Holocaust Museum honors Westchester woman whose documentary tells of grandfather’s survival
Shining a light on book arts in DC
Kinship is celebrating New York History Month with a discount on their NY genealogy books.
Patricia Highsmith’s private diaries to be published as a book
Cookbooks as memoir-like “souvenirs of experience”
Short Takes
Life Story Links: October 23, 2019
Best practices for preserving family history materials, nuances of memoir writing, the value of connection, and stories transported through time and letters.
“Stories of grief, stories of war, stories of love and loss and heartbreak, they’ve all been told. There is no new story under the sun. But every single telling of a story is its own individual snowflake of a story, always.”
—Dani Shapiro
Photograph by Toni Frissell: Five Women, originally published in Vogue, August 1935, courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Connecting the Past…
“DEAR FRIEND,” BERLIN, 1934
Lisa Lombardi O’Reilly, a personal historian in Carpinteria, California, discovered an old pen pal letter her grandmother had stashed away, and in it a glimpse into how history touches us all.
ARCHIVING YOUR FAMILY HISTORY
As a presenter at the Virtual Genealogy 2019 Conference (coming to your computer or mobile device November 1–3) Denise May Levenick will discuss best practices in caring for your family photos, papers, and memorabilia in “Preserving the Past: Archiving and Digitizing Your Family Keepsakes.”
…and Our Present
THE TRUTH ABOUT ANY OF US
“We can hang mirrors, as Virginia Woolf advised, at every corner—we can look at our subject’s face at every angle and in every light.... But never, never, can we see enough,” Iris Origo muses about the nature of biography and truth in this excerpt from Images and Shadows: Part of a Life.
RX FOR CONNECTION
Preoccupied with the idea of "the loneliness epidemic," I have been immersing myself in media that prompts genuine connection. Here, a few book and podcast recommendations to inspire face-to-face communication.
FROM THE BEYOND
“Parents tell their children complicating facts in dribs and drabs, if at all. Sometimes, they do so judiciously, meaning they’re ready for the ensuing questions a disquieting bit of family history will stir.” Oscar Villalon on the many ghosts we call family.
...and a Few More Links
Nnedi Okorafor on narrating her memoir
Elton John’s new memoir, simply entitled Me, is called ““hilariously self-lacerating.”
In the recently re-opened MoMA, home movies take center stage in “Private Lives Public Spaces.”
When real-life people and details inform a “fictional” narrative
Short Takes
Piercing the “loneliness epidemic” with genuine connection
Preoccupied with the idea of "the loneliness epidemic," I have been immersing myself in media that prompts genuine connection, including books and podcasts.
“Most people don’t listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”
—Stephen Covey
I am preoccupied with the idea that we are losing connections with one another—genuine, human connections that result from authentic interactions, curiosity, and actual prolonged attention.
Somehow the phrase “loneliness epidemic” had eluded me—that is, until last week, when I heard or read the phrase in multiple places in quick succession. Hearing it—and the conversations that the idea sparked—make me think that, certainly, there is something to be concerned about.
I had the pleasure of seeing Ron Howard (bottom right) interview longtime film producing partner Brian Grazer (bottom left) about his latest book, Face to Face, at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan last month. See a replay video here.. Read more about the book below.
The Power of Connecting
Did you know that more than half of all Americans identify as “lonely”? Have you ever felt isolated, despite being “connected” to hundreds of Facebook friends and followed by countless more on Instagram?
It seems to me that the days when people pick up the phone just to chat indefinitely are gone. Ever-present cell phones, caller ID, and our overly-busy lives have relegated phone conversations, often, to transactions—quick convos to arrange meetings or elaborate on a text. Sure, perhaps that’s a generalization, but an impromptu poll of friends and acquaintances bears this out. The oft-cited exception: Many adults, blessedly, still speak on the phone regularly and at length to their parents.
The thread that binds the many “solutions” to our loneliness epidemic? Connection, pure and simple.
Recommendations to Inspire In-Person Connection
I know that for many, particularly elderly individuals who live on their own, finding people with whom to connect is a daunting challenge. But for many of us, we are not connecting deeply even with those with whom we live.
This is not a prescriptive post, but if you are feeling similarly, you might want to explore the idea further with a few of these books and podcasts. While they may not provide a genuine in-person connection, they will inspire and offer up a likeminded community of souls in search of regular connection!
And while it may take a few minutes to gather up your courage to dial the phone, consider reaching out to someone you love just because—no quick question needing an answer, no appointment needing to be made, just a genuine desire to listen and connect. You’ll be giving both of you a beautiful gift.
BOOK
Face to Face: The Art of Human Connection by Brian Grazer (Simon & Schuster, 2019)
Brian Grazer (the prolific, award-winning film and TV producer) has written a book on the subject of connecting, Face to Face: The Art of Human Connection. “I would venture to say,” he writes, “that people today are starving for genuine relationships, a sense of belonging, and the feeling of being known and understood.”
I see this every day in my personal life and my business. Certainly, I myself feel lonely at times and crave deeper conversation on a regular basis, and I hear this echoed in networking groups, among fellow parents cheering our kids along the sidelines, and even in the media.
In his latest book, Grazer offers up anecdotes from his impressive film career as he makes connections across the globe. He is an engaging storyteller and especially in tune with his ability to bridge divides, and to listen to others with purpose and genuine attention. He argues that we are missing an essential piece of the human experience, and that “disrupting your comfort zone can lead to the most unexpectedly beautiful connections in our lives…. If I’m not stepping outside my comfort zone—as often as possible—then I’m holding myself back from opportunities to learn, grow, and see the world differently through the eyes of others.”
All it takes, Grazer says, is the “curiosity and courage to initiate engagement with another human being, and the willingness to listen and learn with an open mind.”
PODCAST SERIES
Meaningful Conversations with Maria Shriver
From the description for this new podcast series: “Through intimate, thought-provoking conversations with friends and other individuals she respects and admires, Maria dives into issues like love, pain, forgiveness, gratitude, family, faith, connection, loneliness, the art of self-reinvention, and more to inspire you to reflect on your own life and have more meaningful conversations with the people you love.”
That’s the rub, in my opinion: Listening in on her intimate conversations makes me want to have more of my own.
Pick one that intrigues you, or just listen to an episode at random to discover something entirely new: She discusses family life, evolving as a person, and friendship with Rob Lowe; radical kinship with Father Greg Boyle; the power of vulnerability with Brené Brown; and how to build meaningful relationships—and the value of simply being present—with Hoda Kotbe. The beauty of Shriver’s series, I feel, is the level of intimacy she establishes early (many guests are her friends, but for those who are not, Shriver’s clear desire to connect and listen sans judgment sets a tone conducive to sharing).
PODCAST EPISODE
The Time Ferris Show: Lisa Ling — Exploring Subcultures, Learning to Feel, and Changing Perception (#388)
“It requires time and energy to get invested in other people’s stories, but I do in my heart of hearts believe that you emerge a better and smarter human as a result of taking that time,” Lisa Ling says in the episode, which spans a wide range of topics including her career in television journalism, her personal relationship with her mother (and how it was transformed when they traveled together to Taiwan), her favorite books, and so much more.
Ling describes how her traditional Asian-American family wasn’t particularly communicative, and that it wasn’t until she began to ask her mother questions about her youth that they began to speak about emotions and genuinely connect. Ferriss asks what Lisa did to lay the groundwork that allowed her mother to finally share her story for the first time, and they both urge listeners who have difficult relationships with their parents to similarly connect.
Learning more about her mother’s childhood and backstory and sharing intimate moments with her “ignited this empathy thing,” as Ling describes, and has valuably informed her approach to storytelling—and fundamentally improved her quality of life.
What are you reading, watching, or listening to that might help others spark conversation and connection?
Life Story Links: October 8, 2019
Lots about memories, from how we may forget to how we craft them on a page; plus family history, family artifacts, and family foods that hold meaning.
“Every man’s memory is his private literature.”
—Aldous Huxley
Ellen Cantor’s “Prior Pleasures” series of double-exposure photographs (no Photoshop involved!) “explores memory and preservation of the past while ensuring the creation of a visual legacy for the next generation. The books photographed for this series are the ones I have carried with me since childhood,” she describes. Photograph by Ellen Cantor. Learn more in “Seeing Double” below.
Putting Memories into Words
COMFORT FOOD
From alfredo sauce from scratch to a thoroughly gussied up mac-and-cheese from the blue box, Carmen Maria Machado uses the foods that warmed her in the homes that she traversed to walk us through her twenties.
THE AUTHOR WHO DIDN’T CARE TO BE REMEMBERED
In this excerpt from Shadow Archives, a look at the curious case of African American writer Ann Petry—who “embarked on a shred-and-burn campaign” of her journals, letters, and book drafts—and the ways in which we scour those precious remaining archives nonetheless looking for glimpses of her life and motivations.
ALL THAT HAS BEEN FORGOTTEN
My job as a personal historian was ignited by a tribute book I made in honor of my mom after she died, and I regularly help others spark memories that may seem elusive. And yet: I have been haunted by the notion that all the memories of my own mother are…gone.
WHEN MEMORIES MEET THE PAGE
“I had written down just what my client had told me about his aunt. So why did reading the chapter move him to tears?” wonders Massachusetts–based personal historian Nancy West. “Because seeing words on a page is somehow more profound than simply telling the story.”
Pieces of Our Collective Past
IS THAT…?
“Family artifacts hold all kinds of genealogical evidence waiting to be found and added to our ancestors’ stories,” writes Denise May Levenick, aka The Family Curator. Imagine her shock when she encountered a piece of her own family history at a flea market.
HISTORY MADE PERSONAL
Lonnie G. Bunch III, named Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in June, describes five artifacts from the vast collections that hold deep personal meaning for him, and that reflect significant pieces of our nation’s history.
SEEING DOUBLE
“I document the artifacts of the past to enrich the present,” still life photographer Ellen Cantor says. “I am interested in reimagining the family photo album and objects that hold personal histories in order to explore the distillation and persistence of memory.” Read about her multiple-exposure series exploring the pleasures of childhood reading, and head over to her website to browse some of her other work, including Family and Visual DNA.
...and a Few More Links
Washington State Parks is collecting oral and written histories of Mount St. Helens’ 1980 eruption.
The Family Narrative Project is offering a recipe storybook online course.
Story Corps. seeks support.
Short Takes