Expanded field notes for Writing Local History: Week on Writing.
With all the publicizing I’ve seen for this event, I expect it to be pretty big, so I’m pretty surprised when we walk into the library and there are only enough seats for maybe ten extra people outside of our 102 class. No biggie, though, I think to myself. Even things that are not appreciated by the larger population can still be important and impactful. I settle down to listen, noting the chattiness of our class before the event starts. A camera man taking video makes me nervous at random times during the event… I’ll be paying attention and then I’ll notice him out of the corner of my eye, with his all-seeing eye recording my hunched-over lazy posture and a depressed looking face. People tell me I look depressed when I’m concentrating. Wierd, huh? Halfway through the session, some girl’s phone went off and she talked on it, distracting everybody, and not even thinking to leave. She just lowered her voice to what she apparently thought was a discreet level and kept talking, annoying those around her. I thought that rude and out of place at an academic event, especially an optional academic event.
The organizer of the event introduces the speakers, all older and scholarly looking. I find the oldest man on the panel entertaining. He has trouble with the mike. “Um, huh… is this thang on? Can – can ya’ll hear me back there? I don’t think it’s working.” Someone rescues him by turning on the mike. “Oh, right, there now it’s working.”
Surprisingly, I kind of enjoyed some of the speakers. I think that it’s mostly because the majority of them focused on personal histories, stories, etc, which I could listen to and relate to or just enjoy. The one I most enjoyed was the man who, when he was in his twenties, wanted to be a novel writer but felt that he couldn’t make a living at it. That’s exactly how I am – I would love to be a writer but the market is so competitive that there’s no way I could survive just doing that. He ended up being published in his later years, which was both an encouragement and a downer on my part… one, it’s good that he’s been published. Two, I don’t want to wait that long, but the process seems so hard… Plus, he says it’s all about who you know in order to get published. So I need to pray for some good connections, is pretty much what he was saying. I loved one point he made, that the power of stories help to heal and inspire. I think this is entirely true and a very “Heartfelt” statement, in reference to my own project (see Cowhill analysis).
The only woman on the board was pretty interesting as well as she told some stories about her childhood, like how she raised the pig and had contests with him… Again, this captured my attention, although not as much as the above speaker since she didn’t appeal to my personal interests, because her stories were engaging. She also told us about the Silver Leos, the group of alumni working on memoirs. I have a thought, thought, that is slightly disturbing… as bad as it sounds, who really cares? I feel like there’s too much information out there. Does anyone ever think about how many million books are out there and yet how we keep producing more? Stories, I might understand for entertainment’s sake, but really? Is there any real use for MORE information than we already have? Maybe I think these thoughts because I’m not a history person, but how many people out there really want to know about the lives of some people who used to go to a certain school?
Dr. Spencer, who deals with Journalism and Photography, said something I found profound. “We are our stories.” He talked about microhistory (everyday people, small scale, that do extraordinary things) and it’s importance, how he is motivated by individuals, and how we occupy the spaces that people before us have. He creates bibliographical snapshots – people and their stories. I loved his talk because it was so pertinent towards my own project and how I need to approach my research. Bibliographica snapshots that contribute to the larger whole of the songwriter’s subculture. I found it amusing that he kept mentioning how he was intrigued by outlaws and their stroies, social villians as he put it. He even researched his own family history to find interesting stories, like his grandpa who rode with some outlaws. He wants to find those stories, and I loved that.
I think it was a successful event, and even though only a few people attended, the things the panel said affected that small group of people.
