Historical Society Seeks Help Saving Histories
Have you ever wondered how a woman born more than a century ago would describe her childhood in Lake City?Are you fascinated by local mines and curious to learn what it was like to work underground?Did you ever wish you had recorded a relative’s memories before it was too late?If so, the practice of oral history will interest you.Hinsdale County Historical Society (HCHS) is revitalizing its oral history program and is seeking interviewers, narrators, and transcribers to participate. Oral histories are recorded conversations about the past between a narrator and interviewer.They are transcribed, shared, and preserved to enhance the public’s understanding of the past.Oral history is not about documenting precise dates or details. It is about capturing the way that people remember the past today—the emotions, meanings, and memories that animate their lives.The historical society has a range of oral history recordings, many of which still are not transcribed. Some were saved on cassette tapes. Others were in a CD or digital format.HCHS has transferred these audio files so that anyone interested in transcribing them can access them from their home computer.The oral histories awaiting transcription convey fascinating tales. One oral history is between pioneer railroad worker John Benson (1868-1957), whose family interviewed him on Christmas Eve in 1955. Benson talks about the personalities of local burros, his immigration from Sweden, and his time on the railroad in Lake City.Another interview documents the memories of Charlie Curtis, a longtime building inspector with family roots in Powderhorn. He was part of the generation who moved to Lake City in the 1970s.HCHS also has oral histories with the Case and Taylor families whose ancestors were early ranchers in the county’s South End. In her taped interview, Celia Rawson Swank (1919-2018) recalled local musicians including Bill Wright, Jessie Hunt Wheeler, Gladys Ewart, Joel Swank, Harry Ramsey, and Rowland Ewart who played for dances in the Armory.The society is looking for volunteer transcriptionists, who will receive training and can work at their own pace, to turn these priceless recordings into written transcriptions accessible to the public.There are still many stories, however, that remain undocumented. In particular, HCHS is looking for interviewers who are willing to interview people with memories of Hinsdale County’s histories.These interviewers will receive training, which can be done in-person or remotely. They can interview as many or as few people as they wish. You do not need to know much about Lake City to participate in this program.The best interviewers are good listeners, have a curiosity about the past, and are comfortable talking with people who might be unfamiliar to them.HCHS also is seeking people who are willing to be interviewed. People who have lived in Lake City for a long time are of high interest to HCHS, but the society also is seeking narrators who used to live in Lake City, have vacationed in the area for a significant period, or who formerly operated local businesses.There are currently no oral histories with vacationers or seasonal residents in the museum’s collection, making the experiences of these potential narrators especially valuable.You do not have to be physically in Hinsdale County to participate.If you are interested in transcribing interviews, interviewing narrators, or sharing your story as a narrator, please contact museum director Mette Flynt ([email protected]) or leave a message for her at the museum (970-944-2050).This is a special opportunity to add many missing stories to Hinsdale County’s history.
