Historical Foundation seeks Lynchburgers’ stories

Liz Barry / Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: January 11, 2008

Combine the ancient art of storytelling with the modern technology of video recording, and you've got the recipe for the Lynchburg Historical Foundation's latest initiative: its first-ever oral history project.

The aim of the project, which was announced this week, is to collect hour-long video interviews with between 20 and 40 Lynchburgers. Their stories, which will be presented for history month in May, will serve as a public resource and a way to preserve the voices of Lynchburg for future generations, said Sally Schneider, the historical foundation's executive director.

"It's never been done in a comprehensive fashion here," historical foundation President Cham Light said. "Lynchburg's blessed with a number of dedicated leaders and people who have contributed to the community."

Projectorganizers have yet to approach potential interviewees formally, and are accepting suggestions from the public. Though nothing's final, they have some names in mind of people who have left their mark on Lynchburg: former state Sen. Elliot and Rosel Schewel, former Randolph-Macon Woman's College President Dr. William F. Quillian Jr. and retired Circuit Court Judge William Sweeney, to name just a few.

The project aims to cover a cross-section of the community, so it will also include people who are not as well known. Some of the best stories, Light said, come from people in the shadows.

Light expects there will be more candidates than they have time to interview by May. The historical foundation board will seek input from local historians to narrow the list. Age will also be a consideration.

"Some of it, quite honestly, will be based on age," Light said. "There is not as much urgency to interview someone who is in their 50s as someone in their 80s."

Once the list is finalized, the historical foundation will train a team of interviewers, which is open to anyone. Light hopes the public will get involved in the process.

Once production is complete, the DVDs will be available to the public and historical researchers for generations to come.

Still in its infancy stages, the project has some details to be worked out, such as where the interviews will be stored in the long term.

The idea for the project came from Light, who has academic and practical experience with oral history. As a student at the University of Virginia, he wrote his senior thesis on oral history as a research methodology. Light has also recorded interviews with UVa professors and alumni for the university library.

Light hopes the Lynchburgoral history project will extend beyond May, with interviews collected on an ongoing basis.