Don't Limit Living History to Family Stories

One of the biggest mistakes many of us make when envisioning a Living History Project is by restricting ourselves to the familiar. Unless we have a famous uncle who invented the toilet plunger or an artist relative with a work in the Smithsonian, most Americans tend to downplay our own family histories.

Of course this makes sense in a culture that is founded on individualism and freedom for the average person, but community has always been an amazing part of American life. That sense of community and how it is expressed is what intrigues me about the Ridgefield area, and I would like to know all the people who live here.  Why not?  It is a fascinating bunch of great people.

So... when thinking about what could possibly interest another person about your life experience, or that of your ancestors, don't forget your friends too! They are your chosen family perhaps, but friends and neighbors are part of our lives and mean a great deal to us.  They may also be interesting characters all on their own.

For instance, my mother-in-law lived in southern Ridgefield near the Fairgrounds for forty-two years.  The first thirty she had never ventured into downtown Ridgefield even once.  She didn't even know how to get there, as she worked in Portland and all her travels by car were southerly.

Her first trip into downtown Ridgefield was filled with amazement.  I can still remember her saying, "They have a post office and a hardware store and a library!"  She also loved the food at the old Victoria's Restaurant, now the Pioneer Street Cafe. Eventually she ventured up as far north as the Oak Tree as she loved their salad with the beets and sunflower seeds. After we started the Ridgefield Art Association in 1993, she came to our May Art Show for many years.

I admit I ordered the Mature Learners Catalogue be sent to her house after she retired, as she was a very fit  if introverted woman and her younger friends were still working.  She was going a little crazy with nothing much to do, so I was talking to her about volunteering or taking up a hobby.  She had mentioned that she had always wanted to paint. I knew she read two things religiously from cover to cover. The Reflector and every bit of her mail, junk or otherwise. One day she called me and asked if I would help sign her up for a class.  Then she explained how like a miracle, this catalogue had come to her 'out of the blue' in her mail.  She studied watercolor painting at Clark for five years, starting her art class at the age of 76! 

There are also very unconventional ways to preserve living history other than just writing memoirs - for you or other people. There are recipes people have given us , pieces of art, photographs, recordings, old year books, newspaper clippings somebody saved, magazines from the attic. They may not be about your ancestors or relations, but maybe somebody else in Ridgefield or the Clark County area would treasure them. Plus the old garage and attic thing are problems and there can always be a house fire. Things happen.

So talk about them, write about them, try to remember them.  Nobody is going to judge your stories, your history or how you experienced it.  This is your viewpoint, nobody else's.  That's what makes a Living History Project so special.  Everything is wide open. Let's talk or come to our first meeting on May 25th at 7:00 p.m. at the Pickled Heron Gallery, 418 Pioneer, Ridgefield, WA 98642.