HOME Gateway Questions Activities for Kids Art / Craft Community Scholars Cultural Tourism Folklife Heritage / History Success Stories KPAN Tools / Resources / Links Search Give us your Feedback!

Heritage and History Getting Started Gather your committee and make some basic decisions. How large a role is history going to play in your festival? Do you want to weave it throughout the festival or have it as a separate component? Is your goal to represent a particular event or character or is it to give the "feeling" of a historic era? Is it enough to ask your demonstrators to wear "old timey" clothes and demonstrate traditional crafts, or do you want to include some type of performance or re-enactment? Set some parameters and criteria for authenticity or you could end up with a mish mash of historical fact, fiction, and stereotype. Finding a Story to Tell Local legends: Most communities have their own legends, usually based in fact but often romanticized or exaggerated. Often the legends provide a wonderful inspiration for storytelling or plays. You could just present it as a legend or you could also do some research to find whatever documentation exists about the subject of the legend. The research could be included in a playbill, as an introduction to a performance, or as the topic for a question and answer session after a performance. Discovering the historical basis for a legend can actually enhance the fascination such a legend holds. A good example is the Legend of Princess Corn Blossom in McCreary County, which has been extensively researched by Dr. Kenneth Tankersley of Northern Kentucky University. Oral Histories: History is usually defined as written documentation, but much community and family history is passed down by word of mouth. Recording this oral tradition is a wonderful way to go beyond dates and names and find out what life was really like in the past. Many oral histories have already been recorded, and you can tap into these. A good place to start is your local library. The Kentucky Historical Program house the Oral History commission and has a collection of tapes as does the University of Kentucky. Berea College also has an extensive Appalachian collection. Hundreds of oral histories (along with photo documentation) were collected as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression. Many of these have been transcribed and can be found on line at the American Memory Project (see the History Links page). Even better than accessing previously recorded oral histories, team with a folklorist or community scholar to collect oral histories of your own. This is a wonderful project for a middle or high school class or for a senior center program. Often the people you meet while gathering oral histories are willing to come to your festival and demonstrate old time skills or traditions. Primary Sources: Primary sources are eyewitness accounts and documents recorded at the time of an event. Your local courthouse has wills, deeds, and other legal documents, while family Bibles, diaries, or letters are another type of primary source. Secondary Sources: These are books written after the fact, usually based on research into primary sources and/or oral histories. Artifacts: We often think of artifacts as the material remains of ancient cultures, but actually they are any object made by humans. Artifacts from the time period you are portraying (such as old time tools, kitchen utensils, automobiles, clothing, etc.) can add enormously to your festival, especially if you can find someone to model or demonstrate the use of the items. Even a display of artifacts with labels captures attention. One way to make an artifact display interactive is to have a "mystery display," where people attempt to match tools to a label describing their use. Many families have artifacts that have been passed down from grandparents, and they are often willing to allow you to use them in your festival. (Asking people to tell you about their artifacts is one of the easiest ways to gather oral histories.) One pitfall to be aware of is that you do not want your festival to encourage looting of cultural resources or desecration of gravesites. Some "collectors" are not aware that it is illegal to dig for artifacts on any public lands or to remove any items from any gravesite found anywhere, even on private property. One way to deal with this issue is to invite the Kentucky Archaeological Survey to be involved with your festival, helping you to make decisions. They might be willing to send a presenter to display and explain artifacts, demonstrate prehistoric skills, and/or show reproductions of ancient pottery, etc. Community Scholars: The Kentucky Folklife Program has been training community scholars in several Kentucky counties. These individuals usually have done research into your community's history as well as folklife traditions and can assist you in finding stories, conducting oral histories, and planning your event. RETURN TO TOP RETURN TO MAIN HERITAGE / HISTORY PAGE