The Joint Archives of Holland has surpassed the goal for its Sesquicentennial oral history project, 150 Stories for 150 Years, by so much that the city could even have been nearly two decades older.
The effort has gathered more than 167 stories meeting the project s goal of gathering 150 accounts by the end of Holland s sesquicentennial year, but more importantly it represents a significant resource for the future.
In 1897, in conjunction with the city s 50th anniversary celebration, local historian Gerrit Van Schelven gathered speeches and other writings featuring insights from the city s settlers and early residents. It is a collection that is drawn upon frequently.
Without the Van Schelven Collection, we would know much less about the first 50 years in Holland, according to Joint Archives director, Larry Wagenaar.
The 150 Stories for 150 Years project has deliberately featured a diverse range of community residents, to assure that a variety of perspectives were chronicled. They range in age and experience from young college students to octogenarians. They include well-known community leaders, as well as those familiar only to family and friends. There are newcomers to the city, and retirees who have been life-long area residents. The project sought to maintain gender balance, and to reflect Holland s ethnic diversity.
The Joint Archives of Holland coordinates an oral history project every year, typically generating an average of about 20 transcripts annually. The sesquicentennial project began in the spring of 1996, and at 167 interviews has weighed in at four times the usual two-year total of 40.
Many of the interviews were conducted by current Hope students or recent graduates retained by the Joint Archives to manage the project during the summers: senior Tracy Bednarick of Cadillac in 1996, and 1997 graduate Ann Paeth of Columbus, Ohio, this past summer. Ena Brooks, a junior from Kalamazoo, conducted interviews this fall, as did Wagenaar and collections archivist and assistant professor Geoffrey Reynolds. Lori Trethewey, department secretary, handled many of the details throughout the project, including checking the completed transcripts for accuracy.
About 25 percent of the interviews were conducted by a group of some 20 volunteers who were coordinated by Marie Zingle of Holland. Volunteer John Maassen assisted the staff with transcription needs.
The volunteer component of this project has been very significant, Wagenaar said. It s important to me that we ve had the community involved, not only from the perspective of being interviewed, but in doing the interviews and helping transcribe them.
With the Sesquicentennial project complete, our collection of oral and written histories provides a solid look at the settlement from 1847 to the present day, Wagenaar said. I hope, when the city is celebrating its 200th anniversary in 2047, that they have the foresight to do a similar kind of thing.