H is for History
The starting questions to ask here are:
- Who’s history is it?
- Who is the history for?
- What are you going to do with this?
Once you know the answers it is easier to start…
Here are some ideas on how to collect, use and display your history.
This doesn’t have to be a big complicated project. You can start over coffee in a group.
Video or Oral history
Have you asked some of your oldest members of the meeting for a record of their memories?
Videos of events, or interviews can give insights and cause hilarity.
Walking around a building with a smartphone videoing the building and garden can be helpful for comparison, and for insurance purposes.
Having younger members interview older members is great fun, but that doesn’t necessarily mean under 18s. You can come up with some questions (oral history sites have suggestions) or just ask ‘tell me about your earliest memories’ and let the conversation flow.
The Quaker Tapestry is a series of over seventy embroidered panels illustrating the history and experiences of Friends. It sprang from an idea in a children’s class in a Somerset meeting in 1981, and has been made by many hands in many meetings. It is a new way of sharing Quaker insights through exhibitions in Britain, Ireland and other countries. It is now on permanent exhibition at Kendal Meeting House.
Paper and digital archives
If the history is for local Quakers then adding pages to your website, taking photos of your documents and photos to ensure copies are kept safely in archives – rather than in damp sugar paper albums…
Or if the history is for visitors, the public passing by, consider putting up notices or plaques. Friends House put in engraved paving stones in the new garden.
During COVID lockdowns, Open House in London suggested making videos. The video for Uxbridge has been used during open houses since, and is up on their website too.
Websites can hold a large quantity of information – just ensure you have back up copies of the documents, photos etc.
You can link to other websites – such as Discovering Quakers or Britain Yearly Meeting.
In fact history does not belong to us; but we belong to it.
Wendrie Heywood
MBS Founder
Here are some of the blog posts in the Quaker History category!
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