Preserving and highlighting seniors’ oral histories in Sutton

ARecord Staff

s part of the Quebec Friends of the Elderly program (QADA), Heritage Sutton will receive $106,200 in funding over two years to preserve and enhance the oral histories of local seniors.

In order to trace the history of Sutton, its region, and the people and families who wrote it, the Sutton-based historical society has collected and preserved the oral testimonies of many local seniors. Interviews conducted between 1960 and 2010 resulted in a bank of nearly one hundred life-stories.

Most of the interviews were recorded in formats that make them hard to consult, so access to this historical gold-mine has become difficult and very limited.

The Heritage Sutton project aims to transfer the existing interviews to digital media, to index them and to transcribe them if necessary, to preserve the testimonies and to make them easily accessible. The project also aims to organize meetings to continue to enrich this bank of oral history with new interviews, workshops gathering seniors to discuss old photos, workshops bringing seniors and non-seniors together, all of which will be recorded on audio or video.

Activities will be including short live events based on testimonials and presented to various audiences, exhibitions, educational projects, publication of thematic portfolios on the web and articles in the History Sketchbooks of Heritage Sutton.

Heritage Sutton Historical Society has teamed with two partners for the project; the Management Committee of the Sutton Junction Community Hall will participate in the coordination of the project, identifying new oral histories and finding people to conduct the interviews and lead group activities. They will also loan their premises and facilities. The cultural organization, Coeur du village, and the Salle Alec et Gérard Pelletier, will stage performances of oral-histories, provide technical services and loan their venue and equipment.