memory Articles

Why I Do Family History: how it supports women’s history

As women, we  mostly have been raised in cultures that valued modesty and humility, and discouraged pride and self-celebration. For women.

So most women shy away from feeling “worthy” of being included in history and placing the evidence of their lives in archives.

There’s history in those family photos!

Originally published by BORN TO RISE. Based on a family camping trip photo, a state endangered species committee tracked the shrinking presence of a local plant and moved it onto the endangered species list to protect it from extinction. Many family photos do have dramatic stories wrapped up in them. But the only way to capture, tell, and act on historic visual information is to save our photos…and preserve them.

Women’s Lived Experience Matters

What historical events, policies, and overall political changes have you lived through? What do you find yourself talking to young folks about? I was a Kelly Girl back in the early 80s.  For a couple of years I worked with the biggest temp agency in my area, going...

War and family history: the long reach of PTSD

My grandfather helped win the war, became a US citizen, and had a large healthy family. But the granular details around these successes rather undo them.