Summary
What was amazing was to observe how each participant took the information from various family papers and worked their narrative into these stories. For example, one participant created a historical fiction around the American writer and poet, Lucy Larcom, known as the “mill girl.” The participant created a make believe childhood friend named “Alice” who “worked” at the Biddeford Mills and wrote letters to Ms. Larcom sharing her mill experiences. This pseudo-collection included the book and a box of various textile materials, photographs, needles, correspondence, and other ephemera.
Another participant instantly is drawn into the papers of a somewhat famous comedic actor in his day. For the participant, this was the driving force in her narrative because it was inline with her passion for theatre—acting, action, dreaming, following those dreams is the feel of the book she created and aptly titled “Acting on Dreams.”
For one participant—the process was a personal and emotional journey. Going through all the collections and reading about the past lives of people encouraged her to tell her story. The participant was experiencing a major life change due to the death of a spouse. The memoir was an opportunity to document private thoughts and feelings surrounding this event.
The vision to write the “narrative” of a deceased child became a realization for one participant. The narrative was inspired by a collection belonging to a medical doctor. The narrative from this collection energized the participant to create an altered book about Nancy Brewster, a child who died because of the lack of medical care. The death of the child was erased from the memory of this particular family until an obituary was written 40 years after the death of this child. The book became a memorial for this child and all other children who have died because their parent’s religious beliefs did not allow them to seek medical care.
Another participant instantly is drawn into the papers of a somewhat famous comedic actor in his day. For the participant, this was the driving force in her narrative because it was inline with her passion for theatre—acting, action, dreaming, following those dreams is the feel of the book she created and aptly titled “Acting on Dreams.”
For one participant—the process was a personal and emotional journey. Going through all the collections and reading about the past lives of people encouraged her to tell her story. The participant was experiencing a major life change due to the death of a spouse. The memoir was an opportunity to document private thoughts and feelings surrounding this event.
The vision to write the “narrative” of a deceased child became a realization for one participant. The narrative was inspired by a collection belonging to a medical doctor. The narrative from this collection energized the participant to create an altered book about Nancy Brewster, a child who died because of the lack of medical care. The death of the child was erased from the memory of this particular family until an obituary was written 40 years after the death of this child. The book became a memorial for this child and all other children who have died because their parent’s religious beliefs did not allow them to seek medical care.