Oral History & Story Gathering

Crucian Heritage and Nature Tourism (CHANT) and Caribbean Museum Center for the Arts (CMCArts) present the project Oral History & Story Gathering. This project will investigate the complex narratives of identity in towns of the Virgin Islands and the idea of memory at the historical, personal, and communal levels. It will furthermore engage teens and adults in developing interviewing skills to capture oral history through interviews of elders of their community and/or family to capture the oral traditions and vernacular language of the community and of their families.

Storytelling is a cultural tradition that will be highlighted and transferred to the youth interviewers and that will be captured and curated for preservation as part of the historical archive of the islands’ communities.

Participants will learn methods for gathering, documenting, and sharing stories and information from people with long-term family connections to, and associations with the island. Additionally, participants will dialog about/demonstrate ways of translating information collected about community, heritage, and place-making into publicly accessible knowledge for use in heritage preservation activities, building restoration and educating local communities on the history and heritage of our community.

June 9, 2022 Intro to video recording 6:00pm-7:30pm CHANT
June 10, 2022 Intro to audio recording 6:00pm-7:30pm CHANT
June 16, 2022 Interview breakdown 6:00pm-7:30pm CHANT
June 17, 2022 Mock Interview/ editing-computer 6:00pm-7:30pm CHANT
June 18, 2022 Interview (museum center) 11:00am-2:00pm CMCArts

Course work will take place at CHANT 217 Custom House St, Frederiksted, St Croix 00840.

Please find more information here.