It’s a huge statewide effort involving hundreds of staff members, coordinators, and volunteers, and thousands of community members. The Mass. Memories Road Show is now coming to Martha’s Vineyard to add our community’s history to an archive of photos and stories representing all of the towns and municipalities of Massachusetts.
On Sunday, Oct. 25, all Vineyarders are invited to participate in this statewide project. Islanders are encouraged to bring their photos and — if they choose to be videotaped — the stories behind the pictures to the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center, to be included in an extensive archive that will serve as a sort of time capsule of Massachusetts history as told from a personal perspective.
As described in a press release which can be found on the Vineyard Haven library’s website, “The Mass. Memories Road Show is a statewide digital history project that documents people, places, and events in Massachusetts history through family photographs and stories.”
So far, the project, sponsored and run by UMass Boston, has collected more than 5,000 photos during its travels to communities throughout the state. The organizers hope to include all of Massachusetts’ cities and towns in this vast undertaking.
The Island visit was organized by the Martha’s Vineyard Library Association, a collaborative of all six of the Island’s libraries. Funding was provided from the individual Friends of the Libraries’ groups and a small grant from the Martha’s Vineyard Cultural Council. A number of local businesses have also contributed to the effort, including the Martha’s Vineyard Times, which is sponsoring a door prize: Anyone who shows up at the event will be entered into a raffle to win a $100 gift certificate for Bunch of Grapes.
Provincetown magazine published a story after the Road Show made a stop there in 2013, in which they described the project as “a hybrid of the popular ‘Antiques Roadshow’ on PBS and the Library of Congress’s American Memory Project, a digital archive of images expressing a common heritage.”
Amy Ryan, director of the Vineyard Haven library, is the local point person for the Road Show. “This is a onetime event,” she says. “The community is invited to come up with up to three photos, preferably images that have a story to them. The photos will be scanned and digitized. Everything they collect from the day of the event will be put into the archive.”
“Everything is optional,” says Ms. Ryan. “You can come and just watch. People can tell the story of the photos in a short video if they like. They can have a keepsake photo of them holding their photographs. A professional archivist will be on hand to advise about caring for photos and documents.”
People who don’t wish to participate can attend and learn more about the project and see what others are contributing. Screens will be set up for projecting the images. “It’s a great event for kids, especially if they’re interested in their family’s history,” says Ms. Ryan.
Portuguese-speaking volunteers will there to help out. “We want a diverse representation,” says Ms. Ryan. “It’s a onetime opportunity. We want to include as many communities as we can.”
People can bring photos of anything they chose, as long as there is some connection to the Island and its people. “It’s very open,” says Ms. Ryan, “It’s whatever they think is important. Nobody’s judging anyone’s choices.” The press release gives people an idea of what to bring. “The photos you bring to the Mass. Memories Road Show event can be old or new, formal or informal — simply images that are important to you and that you feel are representative of yourself, your family, or your connection to Martha’s Vineyard.”
The photographs can be in any format — prints, digital on a disc or a thumb drive, or even on your cell phone. After scanning, which takes only a few minutes, you get the original images back. For examples of photos people have brought to past events, visit the state website maintained by the University of Massachusetts, Boston: openarchives.umb.edu.
Ms. Ryan sees many advantages to participating in the project. “The benefit of collecting all this digitally is that once they’ve done all the work and attached all of the metadata, they will give it back to us. Some communities have published books or posted web features. [Martha’s Vineyard Museum oral historian] Linsey Lee will be there getting ideas for new interviews for the museum’s archives.”
“It’s something we can build on,” says Ms. Ryan. “We really appreciate what they’re doing, and we’re grateful to all those who participate. Hopefully people will root through their attics in an effort to find things that might not be saved any other way.”
Mass. Memories Road Show, Sunday, Oct. 25, 10 am to 3 pm, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center. Free and open to the public. For additional information call 508-696-4210.
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