Diaries in Times of Crisis: Time to Tell Memoir Writing

Diaries in Times of Crisis: Time to Tell Memoir Writing

April 17, 2020, 12pm-1:30pm, ONLINE VIA ZOOM | Traditionally our knowledge of history comes from the analysis of past events by historians and their descriptions of what happened, who was involved, the causes and effects. While one can learn much from this analysis, the only way to glean the emotional and psychological experience of an historic event is through the voices of those who lived it. The memories or writings of those persons was once considered somehow “less” important than the historical analysis. Now we realize the value of those voices, that they are, in fact, priceless windows into the lived experience of men, women and children at crucial times in our history. Those voices draw us into the experience, let us feel it however briefly, and enable us to truly empathize. An example of this difference would be to read about the immigrant experience and find it interesting, then to visit Ellis Island and be awed by what you see there, and then, finally, to put on the headphones and listen to the interviews with persons who came into Ellis Island telling in their own words what that experience was like for them. It is the latter that will change you, that will stay with you long after you leave the place.

We are living through a unique historic event- a pandemic unlike anything seen in the last 100 years. Our experiences will be as varied as we are, and yet we will share many of the same fears, the same alterations to our daily lives, certainly the same hopes and prayers for what is now an uncertain future. Someday, deep into that future we can reach across time to let others know what this is really like, if we capture now, in the moment, in our own voices.

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