Oral History Highlighted
Reprinted with permission from the "Daily Gleaner", Fredericton, New Brunswick October, 1996

HISTORY IS ALIVE.

About 20 people gathered at the Fredericton Public library yesterday morning and another dozen or so last night to learn about the kind of history not taught in schools. They are participants in a project at the York-Sunbury Museum in Fredericton in which adult literacy learners are recording the history of local people.

The project is one of six being funded by the Canadian Museums Association across Canada as part of its literacy program Reading The Museum. Jenifer McVaugh, a resource person with the program, teaches people about oral history; how to obtain it, how to record it and what to look for in the stories that are told.

The workshops were held for two reasons, explained project coordinator, Betty Robertson, yesterday. The first is to provide meaningful instruction in literacy and research for adult learners and the second is to introduce people to the museum.

The York-Sunbury Museum in Fredericton is celebrating its sixty-fifth anniversary next year with five different exhibits, one of which will be an exhibit created by the community.

But it's not so much the facts that make oral histories relevant but what the storyteller felt and learned from the experience, she said.

Most of that exhibit will feature oral histories of local people recorded by the adult literacy students. In making the connection between literacy and history, the museum is hoping to remind people that the museum is a tremendous community resource and relevant to people's lives.

Ms. McVaugh said she tried to give workshop participants a sense of what it's like to research living history.

The exercise involved telling a story to a person and then having that person tell the story back. That helped to illustrate what it would be like for the person telling the story to hear the story rebroadcast, so to speak, to remind those gathering the stories to pay attention to the details.

But it's not so much the facts that make oral histories relevant but what the storyteller felt and learned from the experience, she said.

" Oral history is a process more than just a product", she said. "It has to do with relationships between people, a sharing of wisdom gained through experience. It's very personal. It's not just head. It's quite heart-centered."

Learner Input
Adult learners were also encouraged to come up with their own projects if they so desired. For instance, one student said that the museum could be more visitor-friendly by having plain language signs and summaries of exhibits outside exhibit rooms to explain to visitors just what they were about to see.

So this student is designing the signs and drafting the summaries on computer and when completed, they will be incorporated into the museum's permanent displays.

Research, computer training, writing and reading are all important tools for improving literacy says Ms. Robertson. And the historical museum projects make the exercise all the more worthwhile and rewarding for students.

"It says, look, we're not just a dusty old building with a bunch of dead things inside", says Ms. Roberstson. "It is part of living history and I don't think the average person sees that."

Reaching out
Ms. Robertson added that through this project the museum is also encouraging schools and local immigrant populations to contribute to its collection and programs so they too can haste a feel for local history.