Don't text, don't tweet: Take time for conversation with older generations
In 2000, the United States Congress created a nationwide project to get first hand video accounts of those who had served our country in World War I and World War ll.
In 2000, there were very few living participants of World War I, but there were many living people who had served in World War Il. Fred Gehle and a number of volunteers, along with the support of the Augusta Richmond County Historical Society, decided to participate in this project and try to interview as many living local World War Il veterans as possible. The initial goal was to interview at least 200 veterans over a two-year period. When the project was completed approximately one year ago, there had been over 800 recorded videos of local veterans in the Augusta area over the 12- to 14-year period. Most of these veterans have passed on, but their memories of events are recorded in their own voices.
These video recordings are stored at the Reese Library at Augusta University, and one copy was sent to the Library of Congress. Copies of these video recordings were provided to the veterans and their families. Across America, there have been over 80,000 video recordings through the Veterans History Project.
More recently, the North Augusta Sports Hall of Fame has created video recordings of many people in the North Augusta Sports Hall of Fame, as well as other longtime North Augusta residents. In each of these videos, the participants have shared information about their lives with lots of information that they have not shared before. After one interview that was created in the past several months, the person being interviewed called us back to add additional information that he wanted included. These videos have all have been shared with the participants' families. That participant recently passed away. Children and grandchildren would like to have the opportunity to get a first-hand account of important truthful stories of the lives of their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, as well as older people who have meant a lot to each of them throughout their lives.
The world that we live in today is very fast paced and basic communication skills can be left out. Letters, conversations and phone calls have been replaced by texts and tweets. It would be a good suggestion to ask your loved ones or an elderly person to give you some time to listen to what they have to say. If you don't record, take some notes. You will be very glad you did this, especially in years to come, when you are sharing with your children and grandchildren.
There is a lot of basic information that could be learned, such as information about your parents and grandparents, where are they buried, where did they go to school, how did they choose their occupation and events during their early childhood. They will be willing to share that information and, more than likely, share much more. They will be willing to do this, because they know that you care about them.
The Augusta Genealogy Society Library is a wonderful resource for us to gather information and to provide information about our community and its people. When you schedule an appointment at the Augusta Genealogy Society Library located on Claussen Road, you will be able to check out all the resources available to you to complete your family journey. It is important for people to grab the passion about learning their family’s history and heritage. Sometimes that spark is created through conversations with an older person or loved one. Time spent wisely will always enrich our lives. Go for it.
The Augusta Genealogical Society's Adamson Library is currently open by appointment only. Contact the Augusta Genealogical Society by email at AugustaGenSociety@comcast.net. Please allow one week for a response to your request.
Learn more
The Augusta Genealogical Society April virtual webinar “CSRA Local Research” with speakers Steve Tuttle, Tonya Gay and Tina Monaco will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 23. Visit the website, https://www.augustagensociety.org/ for details and to register for the webinar.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Don't text, don't tweet: Take time for conversation with older generations
