DORIS BIRMINGHAM The ability to recognize legacy can be easier for those on the outside looking in at a loved one’s life.

When I began recording my father’s life story, I had no idea that the project would become so important to him.  I had asked him for years to recount his past but he always refused, until one Thanksgiving when my husband urged me, knowing how valuable an experience this would be for both me and my father, to ask again.  This time when I asked, armed with a microphone and cassette recorder, my father consented.

The final project took years to complete and was a collaborative effort between the two of us.  After a series of lengthy recorded interviews (with my mother prodding my father’s memory at times), I had hours of tape transcribed.  From there, my father and I molded and edited his narrative, attempting to be as historically accurate as possible while still retaining his voice.  In roughly one hundred pages of text and photographs, the final product chronicles my father’s life in small mid-Western town, capturing his experiences, family and town life through a series of vignettes.  In addition to being an engrossing and rewarding project for our whole family, the volume has been put on file at the historical society in the town where my father grew up.  The town library has also requested a copy. I hope that students doing projects on the history of the area will use the volume as a rich source of primary information.

On Legacy

For me, a legacy project is about giving back to one’s family or community, but also about acquiring a sense of personal satisfaction from the knowledge that you are doing so.  I doubt that my father would have considered our project in such lofty terms as “legacy,” but rather considered it an exercise in historical memory.  Indeed, for some, “legacy” can seem like a grandiose term, particularly when one uses it to describe one’s own life work.  But the ability to recognize legacy can be easier for those on the outside looking in at a loved one’s life.  Asked if I could see a similar volume being created about my own life, I laughed.  I cannot … at least unless my children insist. 

Advice

1.  Persistence.  Be prepared to ask repeatedly if your friend or loved one would be interested in working with you to record their life story or legacy.

2.  Ask now.  One of the greatest regrets that surfaced for me while working on this project is the fact that I never had the chance to ask my grandparents about their life stories.  Take advantage of the time you have now to ask your loved ones about their lives.

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