NEWS RELEASE: Historic Huguenot Street Launches “Stories From Stones”
Local Oral History Project, Seeks Submissions
NEW PALTZ, NY (April 6, 2015) – Historic Huguenot Street has announced an upcoming local oral history project, “Stories From Stones.” The purpose of this project is to collect and preserve the stories of the New Paltz Huguenots, their descendants, the community, and all who have been impacted by Historic Huguenot Street. Documented stories will be shared online at huguenotstreet.org/stories.
“The preservation of oral histories provides a unique opportunity to interpret historical events and moments from the perspective of someone who experienced them,” explained Kara Gaffken, Historic Huguenot Street’s Director of Public Programming and manager of the Stories From Stones project. “Recording these irreplaceable personal stories will provide a whole new context for the histories of the people who lived here, just as the primary documents housed in our archives allow us to better understand the past from the perspective of the earliest settlers.”
Throughout the month of April, Huguenot Street descendants and community members are invited to make appointments to be interviewed at Historic Huguenot Street. The documentation of oral histories is being conducted by SUNY New Paltz students Wainabi Jung (Digital Media Production and Visual Arts) and Allison Surgeary (Communications and History) as part of their Spring internships on Huguenot Street. In addition to recording interviews, Historic Huguenot Street is accepting submissions of stories via email and postal mail. Stories have already been collected from participants including Huguenot Street descendant and current Mayor of the Village of New Paltz Jason West, Ulster County Historian Anne Gordon, Huguenot Street descendant and HHS Board President Mary Etta Schneider, and HHS Consulting Historian A.J. Schenkman.
To schedule an appointment to be interviewed by Historic Huguenot Street, or to submit a story via email, please contact stories@huguenotstreet.org. Stories may also be mailed to Historic Huguenot Street, Stories From Stones, 88 Huguenot Street, New Paltz, NY 12561. See huguenotstreet.org/stories to see a collection of stories from participants.
A National Historic Landmark District, Historic Huguenot Street is a 501(c)3 non-profit that encompasses 30 buildings across 10 acres that was the heart of the original 1678 settlement, including seven stone houses that date to the early eighteenth century. It was founded in 1894 as the Huguenot Patriotic, Historical, and Monumental Society to preserve their French and Dutch heritage. Since then, Historic Huguenot Street has grown into an innovative museum, chartered as an educational corporation by the University of the State of New York, that is dedicated to protecting our historic buildings, conserving an important collection of artifacts and manuscripts, and promoting the stories of the Huguenot Street families, from the sixteenth century to today.
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Contact
Kaitlin Gallucci
Communications & Marketing Manager
(845) 255-1660
media@huguenotstreet.org