Six events to digitize materials related to
targeted groups within Stamford, Connecticut, including African Americans,
Latinos, European immigrants, women, and veterans. At these events, library staff and
consultants would record oral histories and then digitize items such as
photographs, letters, memorabilia, and audiovisual materials that supplement
those stories. The oral histories and
digitized content would be made available through the library’s digital archive
as well as an onsite exhibit. Lectures
by local historians would be scheduled to coincide with each digitization event,
and topics would be selected to feature targeted communities, such as early
settlers, Jewish immigrants, and local artists.
Docent-led tours of the final exhibit would also be offered.
If America is a nation of
immigrants, then Stamford is America in microcosm. From its original 29 Puritan
settlers to today's population of 125,000 (36% of whom were born outside the
United States), Stamford has been home and haven to generations of immigrants
to America. "Tell Your Story" is a series of day-long digitizing
events at the library's Digital Lab that will capture resident's lives through
interviews, diaries, photos, letters, souvenirs and other cultural/historical
artifacts in order to preserve and understand the cultural history of this
vibrant city. The project will also be part of the city's anniversary
celebration, 375 Years Strong, as well as Stamford Through the Years, a visual
exhibit of images and text winding throughout the floors of the Library during
2017. Contributors will receive a
digitized copy of their content to keep, and the entire digital contents will
be shared with the CT Digital Archive, CT State libraries, and the Digital
Library of America.