Preserve the memories

JANIS SIEGEL SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN

The Past Times oral history project at the Northwest Yeshivah high school (NYHS) in Mercer Island, Wash., has high school students preserving the memories of generations of Jewish seniors in Seattle and the Greater Puget Sound by recording and publishing the histories of their lives.

For the first time in a Seattle school, high school students recorded and processed pages of conversations with local seniors, many of whom have survived the Holocaust or emigrated from other countries, and, in the process, documented and preserved precious turn-of-the-century Seattle Jewish history.

When the Past Times project is complete, the Jewish Historical Society at the University of Washington will add the tapes and transcripts to its archives.

Carol Coe, NYHS faculty member and the advisor who procured the project grant, helped the students organize the material and meet the university's strict criteria.

"The tapes and transcription cannot be edited at all and every person who was interviewed had to sign off on it and approve it," said Coe. "They will get the original cassette tapes and the direct transcription. All of the interviews are now finished. We've found that people really want to tell their stories."

The program was made possible through a grant from the Milken Family Foundation Festival for Youth. If it is successful, the project will become a part of the freshman curriculum at NYHS.

According to foundation director Paul Mindell, it is their hope to instil a sense of service in young people that they will carry with them throughout their lives.

"It is the cornerstone of everything we do at the Family Foundation," said Mindell. "Whether it's in cancer research, rewarding outstanding educators through our National Educator Awards program or supporting outstanding projects like the Past Times oral history project, the Milken Foundation is committed to supporting institutions and individuals that make a difference."

The NYHS student board of directors ran every aspect of the project. Along with other students, senior members of the Jewish community who want to tell their stories were interviewed and recorded.

"We had about 47 students involved and about 30 adults that we interviewed," said Rachel Calderon, a freshman at the high school. "Some students are from the 10th and 11th grade but mostly freshman were involved in the project."

For most of the students, it was their first time conducting interviews. After they complete each one, they have to transcribe it with complete accuracy. Using a list of questions from a book on interviewing techniques, the students set out to document hours of conversations from their uniquely qualified subjects.

"An interview usually lasted about one to three hours," said Calderon. "Transcribing it took me about five hours. Then we wrote a summary out of their story, that was about three to five pages long."

Florence W. Meyers, 92, said she was glad to talk to anyone when she heard about the project. The "W," she says, stands for the name Warshal. She is the self-described matriarch of longtime Seattle business owners, the Warshal family.

"I saw [the project mentioned] in the Seattle Transcript and I contacted the school," Meyers said. "My husband and I were married in 1928 and we lived on Mercer Island. We had Meyers Music on First Avenue, which was the most active music store in the city.... We closed the store in 1984. I'm glad I had an opportunity to do this and I would do it again."

All of the participants who gave their stories to the project were invited to attend a final project celebration event. Representatives from the Milken Foundation honored the students and the participants.

"By documenting these important stories," Mindell said, "we hope that the students of the Northwest Yeshivah gained a greater appreciation for the sacrifices made by the elders of their community and the importance of preserving these important, dramatic and sometimes harrowing stories for future generations."

Janis Siegel is a Seattle freelance writer and director of Siegel Communications.

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