Our PHNN Zoom social gathering on Veterans Day, 2020, focused on gathering veterans' stories. I spoke of my experiences gathering their stories, both the joys and the challenges. Thirteen of my veterans' interviews are now housed at the Library of Congress Veterans Oral History project collection. Here’s the powerpoint presentation we used for the gathering.

During our time on Zoom, I explained the process I use, which involves meeting with each veteran prior to the interview to get required paperwork completed (It’s a government program—you know!).

The pre-interview time helps in understanding each veteran’s story,  provides an opportunity to gather and scan any photos the veterans may have to share from their time of service, and learn about what the veterans have gone on to do with their lives after military discharge. Perhaps most important, this private meeting allows time to ask each veteran what they do NOT want to be asked about on camera. This is an opportunity to be clear about experiences a service person may wish to remain private, and is a matter of respect that has always been welcomed.

The time spent privately with each veteran allows the interviewer to put together an interview script to share with both the veteran and the camera crew. Our local Community Cable TV station, where all my interviews have been taped, were great partners in my local effort to gather these stories. I supply the camera crew with not only the script, but the jpegs of the veteran’s photos, to insert at appropriate times throughout the interview, adding visual interest to the final product.
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Since no interview goes exactly as planned, there have been mix ups, confusion about which photo to use and other issues, but on the whole, the process has worked well. It does require close coordination with the crew at the TV station.

Community cable stations have a requirement to provide programming for specific community benefit. Producing and airing veterans stories destined for the Library of Congress fits the bill of community service to a T. Partnering with my local cable station (ABMI Channel 8)  has been a positive experience all around.
 
Besides sending the documentation plus DVD of each recording to the Library of Congress, I also worked with our town to reserve a page on the town website, under Veterans Services, where all the interviews conducted here in Bellingham, MA are posted that are also housed in the Library of Congress. A short blurb is posted under each veteran’s link to help site visitors get a taste of what each interview offers. 
 
Spending time with veterans is an experience in meeting people who have had their lives changed from having served. Almost without exception, those I interviewed have continued finding ways to serve after their discharge, whether it has been by joining law enforcement or fire departments, serving on local town boards, or other ways to continue giving back to our community. Listening to a veteran’s story is both a joy and a humbling experience. My hope is that other veterans will come forward to share their stories, a gift to us all.

While taking a “Museum & Digital Technology” class at Tufts University last fall, I was tasked with creating a system that utilized new technology and was beneficial to an organization in my community. I live in the Blackstone River Valley, a national park with a rich history whose story has not been fully told. I began thinking about the difficulties of collecting the oral histories of lifelong residents and being able to share them with the public. I realized that I could create an easy-to use interface that would allow personal historians to gather stories from millworkers using their computer or mobile device, along with spreading the stories online or through social media. (You can look at the process here.)

The Blackstone River Valley has a long history as the “Birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution.” At the southern end of the valley, Slater’s Mill in Pawtucket, RI became the first water-powered mill in the United States in 1793. From then on, hundreds of mills in all shapes and sizes were built on the Blackstone River and its tributaries. Local people left their farms to work in the mills, while immigrants came from Europe and Canada to run the machines. Amazingly, this millworker lifestyle continued until the 1970s, when the last of the mills closed down. Because this way of life continued for so long, some of the former millworkers still live in the Blackstone Valley. The youngest are in their mid-seventies, while most remaining mill workers are older. Within a few years, the last of the millworkers will be gone, and their stories would be lost.

When working alone, I didn’t have any funding to create a completed product. That’s where Blackstone Heritage Corridor, Inc. (BHC) came in. When the COVID-19 restrictions hit, I connected with BHC to begin a summer practicum under the supervision of Volunteer Coordinator Suzanne Buchanan. After pitching the idea to her, she arranged a Zoom meeting for me to seek support for the project. An initial meeting with BHC and National Park Service staff and volunteers was highly successful, and I was given the go-ahead to build the project, thanks to funding found by BHC director Devon Kurtz. I have been working with media expert Brad Larson to put my interface over his StoryKiosk framework, along with local historian and PHNN member Marjorie Turner Hollman to create a list of interviewing questions to guide the storytellers.

To find millworkers who want to tell their stories, I hope to turn to a few different sources. During the early stages of recording, as I find the best way to interview millworkers using this new technology, I will collect the stories of local community members whom I have known for most of my life. Many local historical societies are run by the very same people who once ran the mills, and they have kept in contact with their fellow workers. The Rhode Island Manufacturers Association is another resource, as they connect the industries of the past to those of the present.

I’m excited to begin collecting stories from the former millworkers of the Blackstone Valley. All of the stories will be held in a database that can be made accessible to other organizations related to the Blackstone Valley, like the Museum of Work and Culture in Woonsocket, RI. Selected stories will be shared on the BHC social media, including their Facebook page, Instagram feed, and YouTube channel, along with hopefully appearing in future exhibits once restrictions are lifted. If you know anyone who worked in the mills of the Blackstone Valley or had close family that worked in the mills, feel free to send them my way! My email is aaepplett@gmail.com.

Abigail Epplett is a MA candidate in Museum Studies at Tufts University, focusing on informal education and American history. She recently completed a summer practicum with Blackstone Heritage Corridor, Inc., a non-profit organization affiliated with the Blackstone River Valley National Historic Park in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and continues to volunteer with the National Park Service.