Jane Beck, founder of the Vermont Folklife Center, caught everyone’s attention as she shared tips of the trade and samples of some of the stories she has recorded and collected.  The focus of her long career as a folklorist, historian, and author has always been on listening to and capturing what “regular folk” wanted to tell her.  In this way, she said, “I learned more about history than I ever did going to college.”  Her advice to anyone thinking of gathering oral histories:  “Get the stories first; you can always do the research later!”

 

So, who to interview?  Jane recommended finding knowledgeable people, but also those whose stories paint pictures.  It’s a given that memory is always unreliable, but everyone has stories – family stories that may trace back generations, stories of memorable experiences, tragic stories, and stories about life’s turning points.  Oral histories provide access to unwritten stories that might otherwise be lost.

 

And then there are those insider-outsider stories about the “real Vermonter” encountering the “flatlander”.  Jane shared some from her archive, eliciting more than a few chuckles.  She pointed out that such stories, when laced with humor, help deflect hostility.  Jane’s closing comment: “Listening to people’s stories is a healthy thing to do; it bridges understanding.”

 

This program was funded by the VT Humanities Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and Newbury Historical Society’s Ludwig Moorehead Speakers Fund.  Ludwig Moorehead and his wife Barbara were active in the Historical Society years ago.  Barbara created the fund to carry on their legacy and to make local history accessible to all.

 

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