Oral History Project to record at Rochester Area Heritage Festival

The Rochester Oral History Project will be capturing memories of the city from past and present residents, age 55 and older, during the 33rd Rochester Area Heritage Festival to be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 25-26 on the campus of Rochester College.

Oakland University students enrolled in first-year composition courses with a community-engagement component are invited to participate in the project as researchers. The project mission includes making technology accessible to seniors, building a resource for citizens of all ages involved in local history projects and engaging college students in digital archiving.

“We’re actually going to record at the festival,” said Cornelia Pokrzywa, special lecturer in Oakland’s Department of Writing and Rhetoric. “We normally record in quieter locations, but we have done recordings with ambient noise.”

During the festival, Rochester College will showcase a historic location of Avon Township, the college’s farmstead adjacent to the Clinton River. The campus offers abundant space for parking and handicap access.

The festival offers educational opportunities through storytelling and displays. Other activities will include live music, the Friends of Dinosaur Hill Pioneer Homestead, a student art exhibit, sidewalk drawing contest, petting farm, wagon rides, arts and crafts sale and a duck race each day. New this year will be events featuring the natural setting, including kayaking, hikes and Native American music.

Funding for the event was supplemented by Oakland University’s Meadow Brook Writing Project (MBWP), an affiliate of the National Writing Project.

“The MBWP is committed to supporting and promoting community projects such as this that preserve the personal narratives of local residents and make them available to a broader audience through digital technologies and social networks,” said Dr. Marshall Kitchens, chair of Oakland University’s Department of Writing and Rhetoric and director of the MBWP.

Admission and parking are free. For more information, visit rochesterheritagefest.org.