Emily Keyes, Know History Inc.
PROPOSAL TYPE
Traditional Panel
Seeking
- Seeking Additional Presenters
- Seeking General Feedback and Interest
RELATED TOPICS
- Memory
- Storytelling
ABSTRACT
This panel will explore the ways people create family narratives and what happens when well-established narratives are challenged.
DESCRIPTION
I am looking for three panellists to be included in and help develop this panel proposal further. Presentations could focus on how family narratives are created and the tools used, such as DNA testing, film, photographs, and many others. Discussion should explore what happens when long-established narratives are threatened by new information. Presentations that incorporate personal experience are encouraged.
If you have a direct offer of assistance, sensitive criticism, or wish to pass along someone’s contact information confidentially, please get in contact directly: Emily Keyes, Know History Inc., [email protected]
ALL FEEDBACK AND OFFERS OF ASSISTANCE SHOULD BE SUBMITTED BY JULY 1, 2021. If you have general ideas or feedback to share, please feel free to use the comments feature below.
Hi Emily,
I am interested in working with you on this! I will be working on an oral history project this Fall focusing on collecting life story interviews from ‘everyday’ Irish-American women who center their Irish identity in their social lives via participation in the Irish Catholic women’s organization, the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians. I’m in Florida, so I am particularly interested in how ethnic communities and identities form among people who mostly come from other places (i.e. leaving large Irish-American communities in Boston or New York, and trying to recreate that identity in Sun City Center, FL). I hope to report some of the preliminary results of this work at the 2022 conference, and think it might fit in well with your proposal for a panel on ‘Family Stories’. I’d love to know your thoughts! Thanks!
Emily, this would be a great panel to bring in an interdisciplinary group, such as a working genealogist. I have taught several genealogy-focused research classes for undergraduates (students research their family histories and then wrote a 15-20 page paper placing that history into a larger regional and state context) + they created digital projects to showcase that history. I could always reach out to some of those students – a couple are in graduate school now – to see if they would be interested in participating.
Hi Elyssa,
Thanks so much for your comment. I think this is a great idea for a future session! We have just about finished forming our panel, but hopefully, this is something we could consider next year.
Best,
Emily
Hi Emily,
This sounds like a great project. I’m wondering how you will include diverse voices. I keep thinking that different families remember the past in divergent ways depending on class, race, gender identity, immigration status, etc. I would love to see a family history panel that delves into these differences.
Hi Cheryl,
Thank you for that excellent feedback-this will be something we’ll have to consider as we put this panel together. This also sounds like an amazing idea for an additional session. Perhaps we could tackle it at the next NCPH!
Thank you again!
Best,
Emily
Hi Emily,
This proposal sounds like it’s going to be a great panel. I agree with Elyssa about maybe seeking out a geneologist to be on your panel, but I’d also like to suggest someone who does community engagement as well. These two kinds of people will bring interesting perspectives as they have specific roles in uncovering AND preserving familial/community history.
Hi Ari,
Thanks so much for your feedback. We have just about finished putting together our panel, but perhaps this is something we could examine at next year’s NCPH.
Thank you again!
Emily