Greater Grand Rapids Womens History Council
  P.O Box 68874, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-8874                     Phone: 616-574-7307

  

  

August 5, 2016

GGRWHC Board of Directors

Mary Seeger,
Jo Ellyn Clarey,
 Co-Presidents
Ruth VanStee,
  Secretary
Connie Ingham
  Treasurer
  
Jennifer Bryant 
Jo Ellyn Clarey
Susan Coombes
Kristin Du Mez 
Connie Ingham 
Kyle Irwin
Mary Seeger
Ruth Stevens 
Amy Dunham Strand 
Julie Tabberer  
Ruth Van Stee 
  
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Speak Up! All about Oral History

Tuesday, August 16, 2016, 7-8:30 PM 
VanderVeen Center for the Book,
Grand Rapids Public Library 

Co-sponsored by the Grand Rapids Public Library  
and the Greater Grand Rapids Women's History Council

by Jennifer Morrison and Julie Tabberer

History can be seen as the interpretation of huge collections of stories about individual people, so we want the broadest stockpiles we can manage. Today some stories are collected as oral histories.
Lillian Gill: activist, poet, NAACP vice-president, and subject of a GGRWHC oral interview.   See a synopsis of her oral history 
These are generally deliberate recordings by individuals about their personal lives and the roles they have played in the broader community. Specific interviews often try to retrieve stories that have been buried or forgotten, to bring new information to light and change the story going forward.

Historian and archivist Jennifer Morrison will use film and audio clips to clarify what we mean by "oral histories" and what they can tell us. Local history librarian Julie Tabberer will report on existing local history projects and highlight the oral history collections of the library, including those histories of women collected by the Greater Grand Rapids Women's History Council.

The Grand Rapids Public Library and Greater Grand Rapids Women's History Council hope that in the future you, too, will want  to supplement history as we know it!
Marie Cady, center, with two WWII Civil Air Patrol volunteers 
 
Part-time archivist for both Aquinas College and Davenport University, Jennifer Morrison has a B.A. in public history from Western Michigan University and an M.A. in public history from Bowling Green State University, Ohio. She has spent her career engaged in a variety of public history ventures, including freelance work, fifteen years at the Grand Rapids Public Library's local history department, and running research workshops for the GGRWHC. She is also co-author of Caring Community: The History of Clark Retirement Community.

Julie Tabberer is a both a librarian at Grand Rapids Public Library and a director of the GGRWHC. She holds a master's degree in Library and Information Science from Wayne State  University and enjoys all things related to  local history, especially digging for clues to puzzles. Currently she is exploring the library archive's Furniture Design Collection, one of the largest in the nation, and examining the role of women in the history of the Grand Rapids furniture industry.


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Join us or Update your Membership!  

Not a current member of GGRWHC?   Register or renew your membership and help offset the expenses associated with annual research and programs. Your membership helps to set the record straight on the women who've made history here in our community.
 

GGRWHC Board Meetings

Board meetings are held on the second Wednesday of the month at 5:30 p.m. at the Vanderveen Center for the Book at the Grand Rapids Public Library. If you have suggestions for programs, oral histories, or other items, please email us or plan to attend a meeting.

 

 

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Please take a moment to forward this message to others you know who may be interested in Women's History.  If you've received this message as a forward, consider joining our mailing list (click on the button in the left column above!) in order to receive future updates about programming.

Thank you for your interest in preserving and celebrating the history of the many phenomonal women who've helped to shape West Michigan!  If you aren't already a member of the Greater Grand Rapids Women's History Council, consider showing your support through annual membership.  Visit our web site for more information and the ability to register using Pay Pal online!

Hats off to the historical women who've shaped West Michigan!