On April 5, 2025, Carrie Jeffery conducted a workshop on capturing oral histories. We had members of our community, visiting members of other heritage groups, and members of our own historical society in attendance. The engaging and interactive talk was followed by an informative presentation that showcased the various aspects of modern record-keeping that are now accessible for ancestral storytelling. Left to right: Donna Lynam, David Campbell, Carrie Jeffery, Susan McWilliam. Mary Simpson, the president of our historical society, also presented.
Imagine for a moment the mystery of your history.
By Carrie Jeffery. Published in the March 2025 issue of Middlesex Banner’s ‘Archive Alley’
Personal storytelling can be both fun and provide new perspectives on how we came to be. These stories can challenge our understanding of the past and give a voice to people who are often left out of traditional historical records: the everyday people that played a role not just in our own lives but also in the communities we live in that they helped shape.
With the help of today’s technology, we can translate an afternoon visit with our elders into a published collection of stories that honour their lives and their place in history.
They get to relive their younger days while we either transcribe them ourselves or even utilize voice memo software to transcribe them for us automatically!
In doing this now while this aging generation is still here, we are able to ask questions like “What year would that have been?” and “Why did you do things that way?” before it’s too late. We can learn about the passions and values they may have held that were similar to our own and what shaped their career or other interests. We can witness and capture the changes that have occurred in just one or two generations.
Subscription services such as Storyworth, Remento, and Simirity offer the conveniences of modern technology utilizing just the smartphones we use daily to materialize our efforts. Pictures can also be added with captions of names and places.
My Dad’s Story
Our family purchased a subscription service from Storyworth as a group Christmas gift for my ailing father a couple of years back. Being retired, I was appointed the role of capturing my father’s stories. As an aging octogenarian who was a bit of a Luddite pertaining to computer and internet use, we recognized these limitations posed a potential barrier to the process, but that was easy enough to resolve.
After setting things up by customizing and curating from the website’s suggested list of questions and adding some of our own, we were ready to receive the ‘question a week’ which set us on our storytelling journey. Some weeks there would be delays, but that never presented an issue as the stories can be done at our own pace.
My father was well known as a bit of a storyteller and had much to draw from with many personal adventures, growing up on a farm in a big family post-Second World War and his career as an excavator which included work with the municipality as Drainage Superintendent.
During this process, I would call him a couple of days prior to my weekly visit and see if there was anything he would like me to pick up, then let him know what question we would be capturing that week. This advance notice would give him some time to reminisce and formulate his thoughts and prepare.
He would sit in his chair, and I would watch him light up to recall his mother, his friends, and all the memories. As he stated in one story, they were “all just old now.” Sadly, there were several friends in his stories who passed away as we were writing these together. Each week I would ask how he was doing personally, and he’d often say “I’m tired and I can’t breathe,” and I could see him fading. Time stands still for no one.
This approaching spring will be the first year anniversary of his passing. I cannot express the gratitude and peace that this project provided me since his departure. These stories had me make the time to honour him and his life while quietly demonstrating the love and respect he earned. I learned so much more about him, even after sharing over 50 years with him.
I also learned so much from him about myself and my ancestors. In his absence since, his collection of stories has been enjoyed by his grandchildren, friends, nieces & nephews, and the community who miss him.
Time is Running Out…
Every parent tells a chapter of the story that a minimum of 8,190 ancestors share in just 12 generations on all our family trees. All of them contributed to the journey to our existence. In that 400 years, it’s never been easier to know these people more intimately by capturing their oral histories.
A copy of my father’s collection of stories has been added to the Archives in Southwest Middlesex for all to enjoy.
April 5th Workshop
On April 5, 2025, Carrie Jeffery inspired us to write down our stories or the stories of our parents, grandparents, loved ones. She showed us how the software program, Storyworth, took the time consuming labour away from the beautiful task of recording her Dad’s life.
The result: hard cover book stories edited & printed in Storyworth app
