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Gathering Our Family Stories: A How-To Workshop on Recording and Preserving Oral Histories

Dec. 11, , 2020 2020
6:30pm CDT

Via Zoom

Family stories are priceless gifts from one generation to the next - they’re key to understanding ourselves and our family’s journeys, and to expanding the narrative about our communities’ history.

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This holiday season offers a unique opportunity to capture cherished stories from relatives, wherever they are, with a new set of easy to use virtual recording tools offered by StoryCorps. Join us to learn about setting up an intergenerational interview on your computer or phone, creating questions that spark stories, getting good sound quality, and ensuring that the recording is preserved for future generations.

South Side Home Movie Project archivist/project manager Justin Williams will co-present this interactive workshop with Mary Bess Ser, facilitator/community engagement associate with StoryCorps, a national project to record, preserve and share audio recordings of stories from everyday people.

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This event is presented as part of Arts + Public Life's Vends + Vibes 2020, a virtual holiday arts marketplace and month-long celebration of unique handmade products made by South Side artists and creative entrepreneurs. 2020 presents an opportunity for Vends + Vibes, now in its seventh year, to grow beyond the two-day holiday marketplace that traditionally stretches across all of APL’s amenities on the Arts Block along historic Garfield Boulevard in Washington Park. This year, we shifted to a month-long virtual platform in order to safely bring the same Vends + Vibes #HolidaySoul experience, complete with over 30 South Side vendors, Chicago’s hottest DJs, special events, and family friendly activities.