Publishing seniors' WWII memories and sharing them with students
Abstract
RSVP of Scioto County, Ohio compiled the WWII memories of seniors in their community and published them in a book titled, Memoirs of WWII - A Time to Remember. Once the book was published, the senior authors participated in Read Around the World Day in May 2001 by reading their stories to elementary school students.Issue
As seniors who experienced the World War II era grow older, younger generations risk losing valuable first-hand perspectives of a critical period in American history.Action
Publishing the book
After receiving an offer for discounted printing services, the RSVP of Scioto County, Ohio decided that publishing a book would serve as both a fundraiser and promotional tool for their program. They chose to record the memories of local seniors who had lived through the World War II era. Advertisements were placed in local newspapers to request story submissions from the community at large.
Many of the people with valuable memories to share did not feel confident of their own writing skills. Members of Memory Makers, a local writing group, volunteered to interview and critique the recollections of seniors, thereby transforming memories into coherent stories. However, the seniors received full authorship credit for their published stories.
An art gallery owner, a museum curator, and a university art professor volunteered their time to judge and coordinate submissions for the book's artwork.
A hospital and a retirement center agreed to buy advertising space at the back of the book to help offset printing costs.
Sharing the stories
Scioto RSVP coordinated events with local elementary schools as part of Read Around the World Day. The senior authors of Memoirs of WWII read aloud their stories to students in third through sixth grades.
The authors were received with great enthusiasm and could have easily exceeded the 30 minutes allotted for each class.
Context
At the 2000 Points Of Light Conference in Orlando, Scioto RSVP won a raffle, the prize being free printing set-up (a three hundred dollar value) from a publishing company if they decided to publish a book.Outcome
A majority of the students were very interested, attentive, and inquisitive during the author readings. The students were quite impressed that these were the actual personal experiences of the authors that were there to read to them.
The teachers and principals were also delighted with the reading event and requested that it become an annual event at their schools.
The authors felt very appreciated by the schools and loved the opportunity to read their stories to the students. Some even expressed an interest in getting more involved in the schools on a regular basis.
Vicky Daily, director of RSVP of Scioto County, highly recommended the book-publishing project as a fundraiser and as a means of bringing RSVP into the limelight of the community in a whole new way.
Of the 500 books printed, 100 were pre-sold to people involved in the project, helping generate initial capital for the printing process. The remaining books were put on display in four local retail bookstores -- further increasing RSVP's visibility in the community -- and have sold well. There are plans to publish another book.
Profits from book sales go into Scioto RSVP's general fund.
Posted On
November 12, 2001For More Information
Related Practices
Related sites
Department of Veterans Affairs: Veterans Day