The Human Experience of the 20th Century All Caught on Tape
Using 21st century technology it is now possible to archive and share the living history of the 20th century before it is lost forever. The Living Legacy Project makes it all possible.
While more baby boomers are using 21st century technology to share today’s photos with iPhones and tablets let us not forget that these same people and their parents were also the first generations to record their human experience, using 20thcentury cameras.
These vintage images belong to real 20thcentury heroes – the people who built our roads, fought for our freedom in World War II, raised their families during the space age and served in Vietnam.
This irreplaceable history, recorded in deteriorating analog format, contains defining moments and life lessons our children need more than at any other time in history.
The threat of losing this valuable body of history is real. Even more troubling, those who have it in their possession are least experienced with managing digital media.
The Living Legacy Project is a global initiative to teach seniors how to scan, archive give voice to their vintage photos and to make available professional assistance where needed.
Tom Cormier and Dennis Stack, co-founders of the Living Legacy Project and its official online archive, LegacyStories.Org, recognized the lack of a scalable process to save this world treasure.
“There are numerous efforts out there to capture and preserve life stories. But, collectively they are still leaving the vast majority of personal history undocumented, thrown into dumpsters as thousands of seniors pass away each day,” says Cormier.
“Without a systematic approach that can be duplicated quickly there will be millions of family heroes going unnoticed at a time when our children need it most.”
The Project’s methodology is comprised of two main elements:
1. A legion of trained advisors to systematically teach and assist seniors to scan their photos and record their oral narrative describing the people and events only they could know.
2. A cloud-secured online research library where the “talking photos” can be backed-up and shared in a modern format familiar to today’s youth, to be accessed by families, educators and genealogists.
The Project has established “Pict-oral” history programs in senior living communities, ethnic groups, faith-based congregations, etc., as a means to reach the most endangered personal history.
“After my grandparents passed away we went through their pictures and couldn’t identify many of the people who were obviously special in their lives,” commented Mary Smith, a resident of Heritage Communities Senior Living Community in Bismark, North Dakota. “That won’t happen to my grandchildren because of my talking pictures.”
The Project offers new career opportunities for people who enjoy listening and working with seniors.
“I am honored to be part of this movement to save history,” says Derek Bausman, owner of Mad Tech, a media digitizing company in Twin Falls, Idaho. It has opened up so many new doors by adding legacy services.”
Co-Founder Stack puts it all in perspective, “It’s not how many pictures we remember, but the ones we will be remembered by”
ABOUT THE LIVING LEGACY PROJECT
The Living Legacy Project was launched in September, 2012. The network of trained advisors is, the International Association of StoryKeepers (I-ASK).
The Project’s free online archive is LegacyStories.Org. In addition to archiving and sharing vintage photos and oral histories, members can link their stories to deceased family members in the official family tree of humankind, with over 3.5 billion ancestor records.
