Sunday, October13, 2024
They Are Who I Am! The Art and Science of Collecting Family Stories
David Fenimore
How many of us know where our great-grandparents grew up? Or what challenges, triumphs, and tragedies they experienced? Emory University psychologist Marshall Duke argues that children who have the most self-confidence have what he calls a strong “intergenerational self.” Every family, he says, has a unifying narrative, and his work suggests that when we feel part of a family story, we are more capable of coping with stress, sickness, and other setbacks. Family stories can be reassuring and inspirational, as well as amusing and thought-provoking. They are almost always interesting, especially when their vivid details are situated within broader mythic and historical frameworks. So, it’s a shame that these stories are frequently and irrecoverably lost. I’ll discuss the main types of family narratives and offer some practical advice for recording and editing oral histories.
Bio: David Fenimore retired in 2020 from 35 years with the University of Nevada-Reno, where he served as Director of Undergraduate Studies in English as well as chair of the Core Humanities program. Since 1995 he has traveled the country portraying historical figures including folksinger Woody Guthrie, California settler John Sutter, and New York newspaper editor and Unitarian-Universalist Horace Greeley. Next summer he will spend three weeks in Oklahoma performing as western writer Zane Grey. David was born and raised on the Philadelphia Main Line. He spent his first 18 summers in Ocean City, and is happy to be home at last, sharing his life with Cynthia Grzywinski.
Tune in remotely by visiting our Facebook page for Livestream of this service.
