Introducing the Memories of Migration Project Blog

Our hope with this behind-the-scenes blog is that we can share what we learn from working together with a number of library professionals, oral historians, community organizers, and others to collaboratively build Memories of Migration.  We'll be posting some of the info about what we learn from working together and from putting together this kind of project in the hopes that it will be useful for others working on digital storytelling and community memory projects.

Santa Ana Public Library Teen Historians interview members of the Mexican American Veterans Association in 2012. 

The Santa Ana Public Library Teen Historian project caught our attention in the months following Historypin's public launch in 2011.  After visiting them in Santa Ana in 2012, we started to look at ways we could team up with the library to integrate some of the components of their program into the Historypin platform and create a national or international model in story gathering and community building with libraries at the center of strong communities. 

We started piloting some initial ideas of gathering community memories and sharing them digitally on Historypin while also looking at possibilities for grants with the Santa Ana Public Library in 2012.  While an initial 2013 application to the IMLS for a National Leadership Grant for Libraries was unsuccessful, we expanded our team in 2014 to include projects in Queens NY, West Hartford Connecticut and the state of New Mexico.

You'll find out more about the amazing librarians, cultural heritage professionals,  library programs, and volunteers that are a part of this grant as we document the work we're doing behind the scenes to bring this project to life over the next two years.