their neighbors, friends, and relatives have told the stories dramatized before them. With this realization comes a connection between the personal and the communal, the historic and the contemporary. Wide-ranging topics are placed on a stage, literally brought into the light before hundreds of people. From oral history performance springs the momentum for discussion, for study, and for change, thanks to words and images that connect the past, present, and future.
In 1998, Wallpaper Project organizer Rachel Barber interviewed
auctioneer Eugene Myers, uncovering this story:
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"Old people who went through the Depression became scared of banks. I can remember if you had a million dollars, you couldn’t buy a loaf of bread, because it was all froze, see…. We had one auction, and three sisters who never married all lived together in that house. Ed Stroh was president of the bank at that time, and he said, ‘Gene, there’s money in that house, and I can’t find it."
So we were getting the stuff out, and I got a yardstick and every time they got a picture off the wall, I started tapping. |
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And I found a hollow... It had been papered over five times behind that picture….There was $17,000 in that hole, in that wall." |
Because stories of everyday people are the treasures they seek, they call themselves The Wallpaper Project. Questions? Go to www.wallpaperproject.org, or call 419-738-4924.
The Wallpaper Project is based on oral history. If you would like to learn how to use oral history to create a project of your own, apply to attend the 2003 Oral History Institute. The Ohio Association of Historical Societies and Museums, the Ohio Historical Society, the Rural Life Center at Kenyon College, and the Ohio Humanities Council are collaborating to sponsor the third annual
Oral History Institute, scheduled for June 10-12, 2003 at Kenyon College (Gambier).
The Institute introduces the theory and practice of oral history to those with little or no formal training in the field. Admission is competitive and limited to 30 participants. For an application form, call the Ohio Association of Historical Societies and Museums at (800) 858-6878 or e-mail oahsm@ohiohistory.org. |
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