Vol. 3, No. 2                                                                                    March 2008

February Roundtable Meeting Recap

The winter meeting of the Monadnock Historical Societies Forum was held at the Horatio Colony House Museum on Thursday 21 February 2008. We wish to give a big thank you to Anita Carroll-Weldon, Director of the museum, for hosting a good and productive meeting, supplying us with tasty refreshments, and giving us a behind the scenes tour of the museum with its original family furnishings that span from the 18th through the late 19th century in the Federal style home that was built in 1806.

There were 14 people in attendance representing 12 different organizations. We started the meeting with our traditional Roundtable gathering to share news from each organization. After the Roundtable, we held a working lunch to discuss a number of upcoming needs and plan for future programs and events.

We held a good first discussion on our next collaborative project on Education and Schools in the Monadnock Region. The exhibit and companion publication is scheduled for the fall of 2009 and will coincide with Keene State College's 100th anniversary celebration of its founding in 1909. The theme of the exhibit and publication will explore how education and the style of school buildings has evolved over time. The time period would span the mid 1700s to today, with a greater focus on 19th to mid 20th century changes. Preliminary ideas for the exhibit and publication include the use of oral stories from retired teachers, journal and diary entries from former teachers and students, architectural change of school buildings, recreation of a one room classroom, and an open house tour of the region's historic school and academy buildings.

A small group of volunteers, perhaps four to six, are needed to form the subcommittee that will work with HSCC's Alan Rumrill and Tom Haynes to create and develop the exhibit and publication. We would like to have the subcommittee in place by the next Roundtable meeting in June so we can present a project update and lead further project discussion. The project will not move forward without volunteer support. If you have an interest in the fun and creative aspects of developing an exhibit, please contact Tom Haynes at 352-1895.

The Gilsum Historical Society will host our spring meeting on Thursday 19 June 2008 beginning at 9:30 a.m. at its Old Town Hall. Please mark your calendars. Details for this meeting will be in the May newsletter.

We still need a host for the fall Roundtable meeting on Thursday 16 October 2008. If your organization would like to host this meeting, please contact Tom Haynes at 352-1895.

There was interest in knowing about people in the region who do web site development and low volume printing of books. The web developer who helped create HSCC's web site prefers not to have their name in our newsletter. Yet I have permission to supply their contact information if you are interested. If you would like to have a web presence, the Association of Historical Societies of New Hampshire can host your site. To learn more about this possibility, visit www.historicalsocietiesnh.org.

The one company that I know about that does low volume "on demand" printing is Savron Graphics in Jaffrey: 532-7726.

There was a discussion on creating a Roundtable brochure that would have information on each participating organization, a historic picture from their community, and a map of the region. No decision was made to develop a brochure, with information as to potential costs and other details to be presented at the June meeting.

Oral History Workshop

On Thursday 27 March 2008, HSCC will host a day-long oral history workshop offered by the New Hampshire Humanities Council and the University of New Hampshire Center for Humanities. The workshop will run from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The workshop is free and open to the public with a $5.00 handbook fee. Pre-registration is required.

- Developing practical plans for oral history projects.
- The interpersonal dynamics of interviewing.
- Strategies for asking effective questions.
- Recording equipment.
- Legal Issues.
- After the interview: notes, indexing, transcribing, and preserving.
- Finding volunteer interviewers.

To register or for further information, please contact HSCC at 352-1895 or hscc@hsccnh.org.

This would be a great workshop to attend. The skills learned can possibly be used for the next collaborative exhibit and for oral history projects in your own community.

Contact & Web Site Information

For all questions or concerns regarding any aspect of the Monadnock Historical Societies Forum, please contact HSCC's Tom Haynes at 603-352-1895 or dired@hsccnh.org. Please remember to post and share this newsletter with your members. Also, please remember to submit your events for posting on the Roundtable Events page of the Roundtable Forum web site.