Tips on Using Creative Commons and Public Domain Resources
Our "Be Here: Main Street" partners at the MuseWeb Foundation provide great resources and advice on collecting local stories, using multimedia to illuminate the story, and using multiple digital platforms to distribute local stories.
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Life and Levees in Illinois
Last spring, Lawrence County Historical Society in Lawrenceville, Illinois collaborated with teachers and 15 students to explore the area's history of recurring floods in conjunction with the exhibition Water/Ways. The area has a series of levees in Illinois and nearby Indiana. The student researchers investigate how they protect communities thanks to a savvy network of Levee Commissioners and caretakers who patrol them when a levee is in danger of being breached.
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St. Joseph - Benton Harbor's Youth Ambassadors!
Five dedicated young women participated in Stories from Main Street at the Heritage Museum and Cultural Center in the St. Joseph-Benton Harbor, Michigan area over the summer. The program has been dubbed Youth Ambassadors and staff at the Museum worked hard to meld SfMS with their collection needs. With a high value already placed on oral histories in their research library, the Museum collaborated with the Ambassadors to preserve the stories of five area locals.
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Way to Go Mahomet Students!
Inspired by the MoMS exhibition Water/Ways, three teens collaborating with staff at the Museum of the Grand Prairie in Mahomet, Illinois created a poignant video called “The Pollution of Our Waterways in Central Illinois.” They already possessed some technical experience podcasting but the Stories from Main Street project allowed them to expand their skills, learning about lighting, recording outside, and perhaps the trickiest lesson, how to research and conduct successful interviews
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The Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access Learning Lab - A conversation with Learning Initiatives Specialist, Ashley Naranjo
As educators and learners across the nation explore the various issues and debates surrounding water in their own communities, The Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access (SCLDA) can be a useful resource. Several years ago, they led on-line Water Matters lectures as part of the Shout Online Conference which invited educators and students to take an active role in global environmental issues.
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Work Memories
In an interview with an Alabama student, craftsman John Paul recounts his work experiences in construction work and a variety of other fields.Thanks to the Alabama Humanities Foundation for permission to post this interview.
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