Today’s event was extraordinary because it premiered a new event form for us here at Projectkin: the “Project Festival.” The simple idea is to share the process of turning stories into projects to inspire and encourage each other. Unlike Members’ Corner stories, these aren’t the stories but about the projects that will lead to the stories.
As family historians and genealogists, we continuously collect facts, artifacts, and recollections about our ancestors' experiences and lives. Putting these materials into structured archives allows us—and our descendants—to explore and retrieve the stories.
Today, our three speakers gave us an incredible opportunity to peek into the thinking and process of another family historian. It was a rare glimpse into stories, personal history, and world history, and it was also inspiring.
Our speakers
- , a career technologist today living in central New Jersey, shared how her family turned to ad-hoc family history presentations to stay connected during those quiet months of COVID lockdown. The project side has her now exploring how to take these stories, which are already accessible in a shared database, and make them engaging for a new generation without the peculiar circumstances of COVID.
- , an artist and genealogist living in Indiana, shared her explorations of new ways to share the stories hidden in her mother’s diary. Her father preserved this precious book and only passed it to Lynda after her father died. As she explores the stories today, she’s considering the forms she might use to tell the tales and their audience. Without her own children, she’s left to consider options among cousins, historical societies, and libraries.1
- , an engineer and entrepreneur, founded WeAre.xyz, a family archiving platform often appearing in Projectkin discussions. He’s also a past contributor to Projectkin, sharing his recipe last fall, “Playing for Ancestors.” As a committee member for the Shropshire Family History Society, Simon is scheduled to give a talk in October about his effort to retrace the steps of his ancestor, a Shropshire native who moved to Australia as a Methodist minister. Simon shared his struggle with a wealth of material. He’d followed a record trail for a cousin from Australian archives and into WWI trenches in Belgium. In a poignant story, Simon shared what he’d learned about how his cousin lost his life.
Do you have friends and family who might benefit from our programming at Projectkin.org? We’d love to have you share our work in any way that feels comfortable for you (here’s a nifty button to make it easy👇):
This Project Festival series is ongoing. New events are scheduled as we muster three or more speakers for a given event. Learn more in “Announcing: Project Festivals” and join us for the next event.
Projectkin events are free, and members are always welcome to participate in conversations about family history and the process of putting our stories together. Learn more about all of our upcoming events here and join us at a future event.
This raises an interesting topic we may revisit for an event. How do you find the right audiences for your projects when you don’t have children of your own or your progeny just isn’t interested in the stories? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
Inaugural Project Festival » July 2, 2024 | Three speakers, three projects