My Museum Mind

Jess Boydon / Oral History Researcher for the Charnwood Roots Project / Based in Leicester. Loves: Curly Hair, Micro-Scooters, Pixar Movies and a good Mocha.

[anishinaabequay]

Oral history is not only a valid tool for understanding Indian peoples; it is an essential tool. Everything does not have to be written down in order to be true.

Dennis Jones in Survival Schools: The American Indian Movement and Community Education in the Twin Cities. 

  Beautifully put. People too often worry that they aren't giving me the facts. I'm not interested in 'the' facts, I want the facts that were true to them. Everyone has a slightly different truth, and that is what matters.

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My article has been published by The Bradgate Magazine!

  It even made front page!

  Lets hope this creates some more interest in the project

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Having been on student radio for over a year, you would think I would be comfortable with being on the airwaves.....

    All this changed whilst sat outside the studio in the BBC radio Leicester building!

  Ben Jackson however was a lovely and very relaxing guy. I really enjoyed my experience in a fancy studio, even if I did trip up on some particularly tricky questions!

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So the first training session happened just before Christmas in the very Christmassy Quorn Village hall.

The volunteers were introduced to oral history, taught how to use equipment and how to ask the best questions.

  It was great finally meeting everyone after weeks of emails!

[illusionwanderer]

An afternoon at the museum by  David.Keochkerian 

I want to print this and frame it.

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Absolutely beautiful

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So yesterday I had the pleasure of interviewing a 90 year old lady who had worked in the Land Army during WW2.

Instead of the usual farm work she told stories about her time as a dairy worker, delivering milk in all weathers, without a day off for four whole years. She also shared her wonderful experiences of evacuees staying with her family. Her biggest concern being where they were going to sleep, because she didn’t fancy having to share her room! During my research I discovered this little beaut of a vid!

Cows recruiting volunteers? Maybe that’s where I have been going wrong!

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We were back at Bradgate Park today for their Christmas Fare! All sorts of food and craft available, including my fantastic pork and leek hot-dog!

Myself and Julie braved the cold to promote the project and luckily had quite a bit of interest! We also seemed to gain a new team member - Mason the Log Reindeer! Now for a nice warm evening with a large mocha of course!

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We spent a fantastic afternoon walking across Bradgate Park, Leicestershire. You really gain a perspective on a local heritage project when you can view the locality from the top of a hill! I certainly slept well that night!

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So here is a video introduction to the project I am currently working on, presented by project manager, Julie Attard.

History and funky acoustic....what more is needed!?

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Greetings!

Welcome to my brand spanking new blog! My name is Jess, I am an aspiring museum professional, specializing in oral history. I am starting this blog to coincide with the start of my absolute dream job, to document my time on this and any other interesting museum based information I gather along the way. 

So here I am, and here I go!