Preserving Your Personal History: A Lecture Series Sponsored by the Church History Library

By August 13, 2009

I was at the Church History Library and inadvertently struck gold as I picked up a pamphlet at the desk.  I say gold because I’m in an ongoing effort to preserve my family history and these lectures seem like a great opportunity to get ideas and direction in this from professional archivists and conservators from the Church History Library and the Church History Museum. Here is the Schedule:

August 13, 2009

Writing a Journal That Will Touch the Lives of Your Descendants
Jeff Anderson, Archivist

September 10, 2009

From Shoe Box to Archive: Preserving Personal Records through Organization
Chris McAfee, Books and Documents Conservator

October 8, 2009

Grandpa?s Journal: How to Get It Out of the Sock Drawer and into the Hands of Descendants
Scott Simkins, Conservator

November 12, 2009

To Protect and Preserve: Keeping Your Family Treasures Safe for Future Generations
Jim Raines, Object Conservator

December 10, 2009

Click, Rip, Print, or Burn? How Can I Preserve My Digital Records?
Chris McAfee, Books and Documents Conservator

January 14, 2010

?I?ll Never Forget Old What?s-His-Name?: Family Photographs, Their Labeling and Preservation
Russ Fuhriman, Photograph Conservator

February 11, 2010

Letters and E-mails That Are Poignant, Humorous, and Spiritual: Their Importance to Personal History
Jeff Anderson, Archivist

March 11, 2010

Preserving Your Family Furniture in a Throwaway World
Larry Montgomery, Furniture Conservator

April 8, 2010

Fires, Floods, and Earthquakes: Ensuring That Your Personal Journal Will Last Until the Millennium
Scott Simkins, Conservator

?All lectures will be held in the Church History Library (The Nauvoo Room) at 15 East North Temple Street in Salt Lake City at 7:00 p.m. on the date indicated. Tickets may be obtained at no charge by visiting www.lds.org/events or by calling the Temple Square Events Ticket Office at 1-801-570-0080?

I don’t know that these lectures are overtly “Mormon” in nature, but given that their audience will likely be composed largely of Mormons, we could say these are lectures about Mormon history in the making.  I will be attending tonight’s lecture and will post my notes in the next few days. If the lectures do prove as helpful as I hope, I will continue to provide notes from future lectures.  Enjoy, and remember to work on your family history!

Article filed under Miscellaneous


Comments

  1. This series looks fantastic. Thanks.

    ?All lectures will be held in the Church History Library (The Nauvoo Room)” and? And? And the lectures will be live-streamed over the internet, too, right? Right?

    Comment by Hunter — August 13, 2009 @ 11:32 am

  2. sigh I would love to go to a few of these.

    Comment by JonW — August 13, 2009 @ 11:38 am

  3. Great tip, Jared!

    Comment by Elizabeth — August 13, 2009 @ 12:09 pm

  4. This looks quite wonderful. I’m sure that many beyond myself will appreciate you prodigous typing skillz.

    Comment by J. Stapley — August 13, 2009 @ 12:41 pm

  5. Hunter, unfortunately I don’t know of any plans to livestream, but that would save me some cramped hands 🙂

    JonW, which seem most interesting to you?

    Thanks Liz and J.

    Comment by Jared T — August 13, 2009 @ 1:34 pm

  6. This looks interesting.

    Be sure to donate your notes to an archive somewhere so historians in the future can use them to establish context for all the journals they’re reading. = )

    Comment by Edje Jeter — August 13, 2009 @ 1:50 pm

  7. Haha, I’ll be sure to, Edje.

    Comment by Jared T — August 13, 2009 @ 2:34 pm

  8. Jared T., for a church that is known as “not just a Utah church anymore,” don’t you think that when programs of a general interest like tonight’s are programmed, it would be a good idea to incorporate the added feature of live-streaming, or at least posting the archived video online?

    Yes, I know that internet feeds, with the accompanying video production, etc., etc. make for greater expense and more hassle. But that could (and should) just be another of the costs associated with doing such a program. Really, I can’t imagine that posting these online would be that difficult or expensive. (Am I wrong, people?!?)

    So, thank heavens you are willing to transcribe these events, Jared T. I feel like I should be paying you. [smile]

    Comment by Hunter — August 13, 2009 @ 2:48 pm

  9. Hunter, I’ll send you my bank account #, hehe.

    I don’t know much of the logistics of putting these online, but I think the Church has often striven to be on the cutting edge with technological outreach, so maybe they’re planning on making them available and I’m just not aware of it. I just picked up the pamphlet yesterday, but I’ll ask someone tonight about that.

    Comment by Jared T — August 13, 2009 @ 3:07 pm

  10. Anyone who uses the word “striven” in a sentence — without even blinking — really does deserve some direct deposits into his bank account.

    Comment by Hunter — August 13, 2009 @ 3:31 pm

  11. [grin] I think it can go either way between strived and striven, but I like striven.

    Comment by Jared T — August 13, 2009 @ 4:02 pm

  12. Not meaning to horn in on your project, Jared, but just now when Christine said she was staying late to help with this presentation, I mentioned that you would be taking notes and also that some people not in Salt Lake had expressed interest in internet access. She didn’t know that anybody had thought of taping the lectures (maybe they have, but she didn’t know), and she hustled right off to tell the staff member in charge of the series that they needed to tape it (they have the equipment).

    So — anyway — if they hadn’t already thought of taping it, by asking now they have time to set up the camera.

    Comment by Ardis Parshall — August 13, 2009 @ 6:56 pm

  13. Nice find, Jared. Can’t make it tonight, but the topic looks excellent; I’ll appreciate your notes too.

    Comment by Ryan T — August 13, 2009 @ 7:07 pm

  14. Ardis, not at all. I’m glad you did. I’m in the room right now and they’ve got a guy in here running the a/v stuff and I passed another room on the way in with like three or four other guys in a dark room in front of all kinds of gadgets and screens. THey just said they will be recording these and are live streaming to an overflow room.

    Comment by Jared T — August 13, 2009 @ 8:06 pm

  15. Yipeeeeee!

    Comment by Hunter — August 13, 2009 @ 11:19 pm


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