Join the Poultney Historical Society, the Poultney Public Library, and the Vermont Humanities Council for a special program, Oral History as Discovery Research, on Sunday, January 19 at 3:00PM at the Poultney Public Library, 205 Main Street, Poultney, Vermont.
Oral history is a research tool that anyone can be trained to use to document everyday experiences within living memory. Do you want to know what life in Poultney was like in the recent past? Any long-term resident or neighbor can tell you when prompted by the right questions. By collecting different stories about life experiences, a community can capture multiple perspectives for the historical record.
Featured expert, Gregory Sharrow, Director of Education and Co-Director of the Vermont Folklife Center, will explore the richness and significance of oral history as a documentary research method, illustrated with excerpts from his field recordings featuring remarkable people and memorable stories. He will also demonstrate interview techniques by conducting an actual interview with a local volunteer (come to see whom) during the event. Overall, this interactive program is designed to provide inspiration and guidance for how we in Poultney can rejuvenate our very own oral history project.
Sunday's event is the third program in the Society’s 2013-2014 Poultney Historic Places Lecture Series, which seeks to call attention to Poultney's historic buildings. The first was a lecture on prehistoric Poultney held in the East Poultney Baptist Church, and the second, a film screening about Poultney Village at The Tiny Theatre in downtown Poultney.
Look for a fourth program in March in a historic building to be announced. Besides a means of educating Poultney residents about the history of Poultney, Ina Smith Johnson said the series is intended to raise awareness of the community's historic places and buildings. "We hope to [also] draw the public's attention to the needs of the buildings so that they see them in a different light and continue to appreciate them," she said.
At each lecture, donations are collected and used to preserve the building in which the lecture was held. In this case, donations will support the Poultney Public Library. The program is free, accessible to people with disabilities, and open to the public. For more information call the Poultney Historical Society at 287-5252 or email info@poultneyhistoricalsociety.org.
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