Meadow Brook Hall launches Oral History Program

Meadow Brook Hall has launched a new outreach program that will provide additional insight into the heritage of the property. The Meadow Brook Hall Oral History Program will collect and preserve audio and video interviews of individuals as they recount experiences relating to the Hall, Meadow Brook Farms and the Dodge-Wilson family.

The project’s first initiative, the production of “Forgotten Harvest: The Meadow Brook Farms Story,” was recently completed thanks to funding from Roy and Bev Rewold. Produced by HKO Productions, the film offers a personal account of what it was like to live and work at Meadow Brook Farms.

Featured in the film are interviews from family members Richard Wilson, Barbara (Wilson) Eccles and Judy Johnson. Art Ferguson, Barbara Thorpe and Roy Rewold, whose families worked on the farm, also contribute, as do Oakland University and Meadow Brook Hall Engineer George Karas and OU Professor of Anthropology Richard.

The Hall will continue to pursue funding opportunities to further support this important program, which aims to record, transcribe and archive stories that will preserve a unique part of history.

Those with stories they would like to share are encouraged to contact Kim Zelinski by phone at (248) 364-6204 or via e-mail zelinski@oakland.edu.