I was so glad to learn yesterday that the planning for year five of the Community Historian Project is well underway. Application forms are available at the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum in Ilwaco.
The Community Historian Project meets each Wednesday for fifteen weeks, 9:30 to noon, January through mid- April. The focus is Pacific County’s history and heritage and, for 2017, the first session is January 11th and the last is April 19th. Each session is made up of expert guest speakers, tours and demonstrations and this year will cover topics ranging from “Our Unique “Environment” and “Early Pacific Coast Native People” to “Maritime Archaeology: Shipwrecks of the Pacific” and “Summer Settlement of Our Pacific Beach.” The fee is $100 — less than $7.00 a session, which has to be one of the all-time greatest education values ever! Scholarships are also available.
Participants are encouraged to develop a personal project that can be researched during the course. Recent projects have included an exhibition on the keepers of North Head Lighthouse, research on the Ilwaco, Railway and Navigation Company, and a project to map the historic community of Bear River among others. Some class sessions will be devoted specifically to research techniques and, this year will include “Self-Publishing: Do’s and Don’ts” for those who might have a book in mind as an end-product. (How I wish that such a class had been available when I self-published my first book C is for Cranberries back in 1998.)
The goal of the Community Historian Project is to develop a cohesive group of knowledgeable people, who can be called upon for information and who can become a heritage resource to their communities. So far, dozens of community members from both Pacific County and from other Washington and Oregon Counties have participated. Several people have attended for more than one year, pursuing their interest and assisting newcomers. Our communities are the richer for their knowledge, their expertise, and their continuing interest and networking! Hats off to the keepers of our history and heritage!
I am definitely interested in this. I was a teacher for almost 35 years, and I love to write. I would like to learn more.