To hear a person speak of past times adds a reality to history that words often fail to achieve. Some time ago, the St Ives Archive initiated an Oral History Project for St Ives. Many people had their memories of St Ives recorded and subsequently transcribed. These transcriptions became part of the Archive.
The Archive has now started Oral History Project 2. We would love to hear from anyone who would be willing to let the Archive record their stories for the use of future generations.
If you wish to take part, please contact the Archive on 01736 796408 or get in touch using the Contact Us form on our website.
Background: Oral History Project 2
On the 30th May 2024, Diane Callicot and Ethan Jerome took a trip to Madron to revisit some of the ladies who’d attended Ethan’s talk on Alfred Wallis for Madron WI last year. At the talk, it became apparent a few of the ladies had some Wallis stories of their own, so we formulated a plan to start a little Oral Histories Project.
Our first participant invited us into her home and told us of the Workhouse Christmas parties and her Grandfather who would take Wallis cardboard to work on. We then spoke to a lady who was in her 90s; she didn’t remember so much about Wallis but told us about the Workhouse allotment and what the war had been like in this area, as well as how she raised 9 children!
All participants were thanked profusely for agreeing to let us record them, and we all deserve a special pat on the back for navigating this while the whole of Madron was being resurfaced! Good job we didn’t get stuck before we arrived! A huge success and something Ethan is excited to be working on more once the September Festival preparation is over.