For many years now I have canned pickles, relishes, jams and jellies. Taking full advantage of the bounty of my gardens, and saving its summer goodness for consumption later in the year. It got me to thinking that it would be wonderful if we could can our memories, to share with others. One way to actively engage people of all ages to participate in and value local history, is finding a way to make history personal. I have often found that the number one topic everyone loves to discuss, are themselves and their memories.
When I was casting about for a project to do for my Master’s in Public History, I reached out to my local historical society to see they might have a project for me. What they proposed was for me to transcribe taped interviews from the 1970s. The tapes were conversations with older residents discussing their memories of the town. The historical society also had some written memories done by people in the 1920s. I thought doing something with these taped and written memories could potentially become a project for me to do. However, I also wanted to come up with a way to include today’s residents in a memory project, and thought memory jars might just be the ticket!
I thought it might be fun and engaging to ask people to make a memory jar. I envisioned giving participants a mason jar and a tag, then asking them to fill it with their memories. In this case I want memories of our hometown. Maybe their memory is about their school days, or the teams they played on, or splashing at the center pool on a hot summer day, or perhaps their memory was about the large Christmas tree on the common that changed color. Then they have to find something small that will fit in their mason jar that represents their memory. On the tag they write a few words about their memory. I thought it would then be fun to then display all these memories in our library. In sort of a memory open house. That way everyone can see other people’s memories, and discuss them too. I think folks, young and old, would find this a fun activity to do. The final piece would be photographing each jar and its corresponding tag so that the historical society will have these memories in their archive, before the exhibit is over and people take their memory jars home.
I truly believe that the best way to teach (and in this case, history), is to provide hands on activities, which make learning fun! For children, this activity can also be used in scouts or school, it may ask children to present a memory jar that highlights a memory from last summer. Now they really got to think creatively. First they have to recall a memory, then they need to find an item that represents that memory, and finally they need to write a little something about that memory. If done at the senior center, this activity will spark ideas and memories and conversations. Give the seniors their assignments before they come to the center, that way they have their memory and something to represent the memory in hand, and if they find the assembly is physically difficult, there are volunteers ready to lend a hand. This activity is also a great one to do as a family, and most definitely will spark great conversations!
Unfortunately my professor did not think this this was a good project for my master’s, so I went in another direction….but I still think it is a good idea. Hopefully some day I will get to do it! I think hosting a canning your memories event, has the potential for participants to have fun, and if sponsored by a local historical society, it actually is an interesting way for them to collect town histories!
Laurie L. Kearney 