Humanities Project Strives to Bring History Alive
My History is America’s History is a nationwide initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities, in partnership with the White House Millennium Council, the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, Genealogy.com, LLC, PSINet Inc., National Association of Broadcasters, U.S. Department of Education, Heritage Preservation, FamilyFun and Houghton Mifflin Company.
The project outlines 15 things you can do to save America’s stories. It includes simple, easy-to-follow steps to preserve stories and treasures. Among the tools are sample questions provided for drawing out relatives’ memories and tips on preserving family treasures (like photographs, furniture and videotapes), as well as classroom and family projects to give children a special connection to American history. A listing of national and local resources, such as historical sites and societies, exhibits, and genealogical groups is also provided.
The Web site, www.myhistory.org, is designed as a place for families to exchange stories, post photographs, create family trees and discover their place in history. Genealogy.com, a provider of family history tools and resources, has shared its technical expertise in genealogy for the project. The guidebook may be downloaded from the project Web site. Printed guidebooks are also available for a nominal fee. National Endowment for the Humanities, Washington, DC, (877) 634-4478, www.myhistory.org.
This article originally appeared in the 02/01/2000 issue of THE Journal.