Seniors, Wellness and Social Development
July 7, 2016
Valuing Our Province’s Seniors
Collective Memories Project to Preserve our Oral History
With the support of $50,000 from the Provincial Government, the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador is set to embark upon its Collective Memories Project. This initiative will invite seniors to record their stories and memories for archiving and sharing, and create a venue for community members and seniors to come together to share their ideas, experiences, memories and traditional knowledge.
“This is an exciting project that will promote and support the engagement of seniors while stimulating pride in who we are and where we came from. Seniors throughout our province have made, and continue to make, significant contributions to our society and are living witnesses to our history. It is important that we record the stories of those who are willing to share them with us, so as to keep a more complete record of Newfoundland and Labrador’s history.”
- The Honourable Sherry Gambin-Walsh, Minister of Seniors, Wellness and Social Development.
The Collective Memories Project will have three major objectives:
- To conduct a survey of existing oral history collections (print, video, and audio);
- To conduct oral history interviews with seniors; and
- To create a plan and toolkit for communities wishing to record and collect their own stories at the local level.
“The mission of the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Office is to safeguard the living heritage of our province for present and future generations, as a vital part of the identities of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, and as a valuable collection of unique knowledge and customs. The Collective Memories Project will assist with this timely work and will add greatly to our understanding of local history. The project will not only support the collection of this valuable information from our senior residents but will help build capacity in communities for the collection of local stories and traditions.”
- Frank Crews, Chair, Heritage Foundation of NL
Collective Memories is a project of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office of the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador in partnership with a working group comprising members from the Provincial Advisory Council on Aging and Seniors and the Interdepartmental Working Group on Aging and Seniors. The research and new recordings collected during this project will form part of a permanent collection with Memorial University of Newfoundland’s Digital Archives Initiative.
The Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador is looking for community partners to help make existing oral history collections more accessible to the general public, and can help communities start up new oral history projects to interview local seniors. For more information on the Collective Memories Project or how you or your community organization can get involved, email terra@heritagefoundation.ca or call 709-739-1892, ext. 5.
QUICK FACTS
The Provincial Government has provided $50,000 to support the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Collective Memories Project which will invite seniors to record their stories and memories for archiving and sharing.
The Collective Memories Project will have three major objectives: to conduct a survey of existing oral history collections; to conduct oral history interviews with seniors; and to create a plan and toolkit for communities wishing to record and collect their own stories at the local level.
The research and new recordings collected during this project will form part of a permanent collection with Memorial University of Newfoundland’s Digital Archives Initiative.
For more information on the Collective Memories Project or how you or your community organization can get involved, email terra@heritagefoundation.ca or call 709-739-1892, ext. 5.
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Media contacts:
| Roger Scaplen Director of Communications Department Seniors, Wellness and Social Development 709-729-1928, 697-5267 rogerscaplen@gov.nl.ca |
Dale Jarvis Intangible Cultural Heritage Development Officer Heritage Foundation of NL 709-739-1892, ext. 2 ich@heritagefoundation.ca |
2016 07 07 4:25 p.m.