Metro Detroiters Bring Community History To Life Through Arab Museum’s Oral History Projects
Press release: Arab American National Museum
In an effort to document and preserve the stories of metro Detroit’s past and present for future generations, the Arab American National Museum (AANM) has launched two new oral history projects. Through Many Stories, One City: Dearborn Community History Series and Digital Detroit Stories, AANM and its partners are helping to provide a voice for community members’ individual experiences.
AANM and the Dearborn Historical Museum (DHM) are partnering to present the Many Stories, One City: Dearborn Community History Series. This program, which will take place at both institutions throughout Fall 2016, lets current and former Dearborn residents share and preserve their stories of life in the city.
The Dearborn Historical Museum will host an archivist talk and an exhibition about Arab Americans in Dearborn at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 1. Archivists from both institutions will provide information on preserving and digitizing family photos and each attendee will receive a starter packet of preservation materials.
On Saturday, Oct. 1, AANM’s Preserve Dearborn History event includes free tours of the Museum, live storytelling and an opportunity to scan family photos and record memories of Dearborn at AANM’s Russell J. Ebeid Library & Resource Center. From 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., attendees can bring up to 10 family photos and AANM staff will assist with digitization. Participants can share stories about the Dearborn community at one of the two available recording stations. At 6 p.m. a live storytelling session will feature five presenters sharing their stories of life in Dearborn.
“This particular project warms my heart when I see two of Dearborn’s great preservers of the area’s history come together in order to add to each other’s knowledge and preserve the stories associated with our great past,” says Jack Tate, DHM director. “It has long been one of the goals of the DHM to collaborate with other area institutions on projects that will help in preserving the history of Dearborn. I hope that this is only the beginning.”
These events are among the Museum’s ongoing mission to document, preserve and present oral histories by residents of metro Detroit and Arab Americans across the nation.
Recently AANM, in collaboration with its Cultural Exchange Network (CEN), completed a six-month oral-history project known as Digital Detroit Stories. Museum staff worked closely with metro Detroit residents to create 20 digital scrapbooks that centered on the themes of migration, immigration and displacement.
Many communities throughout metro Detroit have been affected by, or continue to experience, ethnic, racial, religious and neighborhood impacts associated with immigration, migration and displacement. Yet these experiences don’t often appear in the media or within textbooks. One way to change the public narrative is to help community members become stewards of their own history. Documenting and preserving the personal histories not only acts as a means of telling the story of the community but also serves as an essential educational tool for future generations.
Each digital scrapbook includes audio recorded during an oral history interview, combined with images to create a short video telling each participant’s engaging story. Thanks to promotion by CEN, a group committed to enhancing interaction among racial and cultural groups through cross-cultural dialogue, many individuals volunteered to share their stories. Digital Detroit Stories participants include members of the African American, Native American, Latino, Caribbean, Arab, Asian and European communities across the region.
“As a member and host of CEN, the Museum is continually working to build collaborations that will increase understanding and cooperation between Detroit’s ethnically and racially diverse communities,” says Kirsten Terry-Murphy, AANM’s librarian. “This project helped us take a significant step forward in that mission and we hope these recordings will lead to further recognition and dialogue.”
The completed Digital Detroit Stories are available online at www.digitaldetroitstories.org, AANM’s YouTube page as well as four metro Detroit locations with interactive kiosks. Those four locations include The Annex @ AANM, 13624 Michigan Ave., Dearborn, MI, 48126, ACCESS Main Office, 2651 Saulino Court, Dearborn, MI 48120, Latin Americans for Social & Economic Development (LA SED) Youth & Senior Center in Detroit, 7150 W. Vernor Hwy., Detroit, MI 48209 and the Community Social Services of Wayne County, 9851 Hamilton Ave., Detroit, MI 48202.
“As Community Social Services of Wayne County (CSSWC) celebrates 70 years of serving the residents of Detroit and Southeastern Michigan, we are proud to partner with AANM and CEN in bringing this exciting project to the city of Detroit,” says Patrick J. Heron, CEO of CSSWC. “Digital Detroit tells the kind of stories that have been shared by individuals and families seeking services from CSSWC every day, and we are excited to provide a space where these unique stories can be told.”
AANM’s Digital Detroit Stories project was made possible by $25,000 in funding the Museum received through the Michigan Humanities Council’s Heritage Grant. With funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Michigan Humanities Council’s Heritage Grants Program supports projects that explore local histories of race, ethnicity and cultural identity in Michigan.