Episode 125: History Isn't What You Think it Is. History is us.

Our Stories Now are What Will Shape the Meaning of this Time in History

Martha Kohl has always had a strong connection to history, but not in a traditional way. She loved listening to the stories told by her parents and grandparents about how and where they grew up, the social and political environments of those times, and the ways those experiences shaped their lives.

It was when she was 17 and stuck in a cabin without tv or radio, and only a handful of books, that she discovered her love for history as it is told through the stories of individuals living in ordinary and extraordinary times. She "accidentally" picked up a history book and read it because there was nothing else to do.

I wish I had known Martha when I was in high school or college, because I had zero interest in history as it was taught in my school. The timelines of leaders, battles, Presidents and wars just did not hold my interest in any way.

But that's not how Martha sees and teaches history. She teaches it through the stories of individual experience, because THAT'S history, WE are history. The everyday lives of people doing their thing, cooking, learning, gardening, being part of a community, that's history, and that is what can be fascinating when shared well.

Martha's comment to me: "It brings me comfort to know that yes, people lived and thrived through historic events like the flu epidemics, the Great Depression, and war time. People died, and people lived, and life moved on, just like it will for us."

Interviewing her for this podcast, at this time, was perfect. She's coordinating a program with the Montana Historical Society to collect everyday Montanan's stories of their current experiences during the pandemic. They created a survey to make it easy for people to answer questions that can then be collected and archived for future generations to truly understand this time in our global community's history.

When hearing Martha's inspiring perspective on what history is, and the roles we play, especially now, I realized how relevant the timing of my book being published really is. The book is designed to help people collect stories in their own story portfolio. It's also designed to help people understand the value of their own stories, the meaningful moments they didn't realize were interesting or important.

I hope you'll consider starting a journal or diary now, so your community, your children, nieces, nephews, grandchildren and great grandchildren can learn about what you did, how you lived, and your experience of this time in our collective lives. 

When they experience something similar, and you know they will, they will have your experience to bring them comfort, hope, and inspiration to collect their stories too.

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Sarah Elkins is an author, keynote speaker, communication coach, and Gallup certified StrengthsFinder coach. Her book, Your Stories Don't Define You, How You Tell Them Will is available on bookshop.org (support your local bookstore here!), Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

Stories Through Generations: How Our Family History Shapes Our Internal Narrative

The popularity of DNA and geneology tests and apps is a big indication that people are interested to know where they came from. We all have different reasons for wanting to know; many simply want to know what genetic predispositions they may face as they age, or have children. More of us are curious because we define ourselves by our stories, our backgrounds, and the people who came before us.

As a child, I remember sitting at our dinner table and hearing stories of our grandparents, great aunts and uncles, and distant cousins from the past. Some stories were funny, others were fascinating in their unfamiliar use of language and a time so different from ours. In our family, the narrative was that we were from Russia on both sides, and that our great grandparents all came from a similar part of the world. When I heard stories of my great-grandmother coming to America with her three daughters, her husband left behind for health reasons, and living with her brother just scraping by, I have a vivid picture in my head.

And when I doubt myself or feel less than brave or strong, I think of that great-grandmother and her resilience, perseverance, courage and resourcefulness. It gives me comfort, knowing that DNA was passed on to me, and that if she could survive intense hardship and grief, so can I.

Wendy Weiner Runge shares other people's stories through film as a producer. Her recent project, R4CH43L, is a Holocaust story with a tragic ending, as most are. What I wanted to know was how her family history shaped her perspective in telling the story of R4CH43L, which is not her own family's story.

As often happens in these conversations, we took some twists and turns from topic to topic, and somehow found our way back to the original theme of the podcast: Our family history shapes us, and if we don't share those stories, we not only leave gaping holes in our understanding of ourselves, we lose our connection to other humans.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this conversation.

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Wendy Weiner Runge is a spirited writer, experienced film and television producer, ebullient story teller, and proud collector of amazing people. With her partner, Noah Bewley, they are producing a diverse slate of films, including R4CH43L and the films, video games and graphic novel series of the JOURN3Y trilogy:
💥Crossing To Existence, ⛓Collecting The Hidden, and 🔥Ceasing The Darkness.

If her stories resonate with you, and you're interested in learning more about what she does and how she magically creates the world around her, connect with her on LinkedIn, and consider supporting the production of this important film, R4CH43L.

Make History Accessible - Share Stories

Our son is taking theatre this year in school and is loving the experience. We've been telling him for years that he should get involved in performing arts because he can be SO dramatic...

A few weeks ago his class was asked to participate in the State Historical Society's Thursday night live reading event. The students, with great direction from their teacher, selected letters and diaries written by everyday Montanans between 1880 and 1990 to read to the audience. They were invited to select letters and diaries from the Historical Society's robust collection, and to research the characters with help from teachers and professionals in the agency. They also did research on their own to find images, photographs and maps, to create a visual accompaniment for the performance. The letters and diaries were from everyday Montanans, soldiers, families of soldiers, adventurers, and families separated during the civil war.

As a group, they defined the genre they wished to focus on, selected which letters and diaries to read, and created brief narratives to explain to the audience what they were about to hear.

Students took turns that evening between reading the narratives and reading the letters and diary entries as if they were those characters. It was an outstanding performance. What was extraordinary about the evening were the students' responses to questions from the audience following the live readings.

"When you were researching these characters, what struck you most about them?"

The people were real people, not famous historical figures. They were real people with real feelings, fears, and concerns for their families back home. We've read history with major characters, but these people were THERE, in the foxholes, writing letters to people and not knowing if they would ever see them again. They were real people who were experiencing historic moments with different perspectives, hopes, and dreams for the future.

"When you were reading through the letters in class, deciding which ones to include, did you have any emotional responses?"

Oh yes. Sometimes as we read a letter out loud to our classmates we'd get choked up, having trouble finishing reading without crying. I can't speak for my classmates, but for me it was about seeing myself in these words. My brother is serving in the military now and I couldn't help imagining what he would say in a letter if he wrote one.

"Did this exercise make you think differently about letter writing, and technology's impact on our lives and stories?"

Absolutely. It made me want to start writing a diary. So my words might offer a glimpse into real life in this era, way into the future.

Definitely. Reading these letters made me think I should start hand writing letters - on paper, with a pen - so my family could have them in the future.

Yes, for sure. I realized how much we could lose in terms of historical perspective from individuals - not famous people - if we don't find ways to collect the digital records being created now. But not just collecting them, there is plenty of data out there. We need to find ways to make sure the stories don't get lost in the sea of digital records, that we can categorize them and keep them long into the future.

I realized that those letters I have from my grandparents are even more valuable, bigger treasures, than I had given them credit for. Now I want to keep them safe, scan them in case of damage, and make sure I have them for my children some day. 

I realize that handwriting really is important because it's part of what made these stories so real to us. Handwriting can give you a glimpse into the personality of the writer.

Are you as impressed as I am by these students? They are telling their own stories simply by expressing their feelings and thoughts about the characters they are researching! How much more can we do for ourselves in sharing our stories in such an engaging environment?

They were asked to perform like this again at another Thursday night reading. The organizers and audience were gushing about the power of this experience and were energized to do more with this concept.

Stories have impact on us emotionally, intellectually and physically. Many of us in the audience were sitting up and leaning forward for the entire hour-long production. What does that say about the performers and their material?

Do you have stories like this to share? Tell me more in the comments below!

Thank you for reading, commenting on, and sharing my posts!

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About me:

A skilled teacher and entertaining speaker, I offer storytelling and customer service trainings and workshops and one-to-one coaching. I teach people how to find their stories, organize them, and share them across platforms. Learning to tell your story is the key to your success. Visit this page to learn more.