I recently attended a meeting with our local Northern California Chapter of the Association of Personal Historians (APH). It was interesting to compare views about historical preservation. The APH has recently issued a book, My Words Are Gonna Linger, with stories demonstrating the power of memoirs as history.
This is a subject close to my heart. I spent 30 years teaching history and writing about San Francisco history in publications like the California Historical Society’s Journal, California History, and The American West. As you may imagine, traditional historians approach their research and publication very differently than individuals doing a family history book.
Yet memoirs and family history books are a treasure trove of “social history” – the cumulative story of how people have actually lived. These will become invaluable “primary sources” for future historians. After all, history is far more than wars, names, and dates.
I’m excited about the current flurry of efforts to preserve the stories of average Americans. Projects like the Story Corps, This I Believe, and The Veteran’s History Project are all working as partners of the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress. Social history is being gathered at an amazing rate, and ordinary people have an opportunity to contribute their experiences to be preserved for future historians.
As you know, we help people to create memoirs and family histories. Most of our authors are motivated by the value of the book to their immediate family and friends. It’s easy and pleasurable to imagine the benefits of handing that book down to a grandchild, and then imagine it being passed on to a great-great grandchild.
But what about a larger social contribution? How about contributing to unknown future historians? Here’s a way to make a difference. Even if you aren’t involved with an organized historical effort, you can “act locally”, simply by gifting a copy of your book to your local library.
-Biff Barnes

We always enjoy talking with people who are interested in memoirs and personal histories. We often learn that we have a love of reading in common. The conversation naturally turns to books we’ve read and enjoyed. If you’re working on a memoir, reading memoirs is not only interesting, it is instructive. Wouldn’t it be great to model a memoir after the style of Angela’s Ashes, or Russell Baker’s Growing Up?
Blogger Maureen Mackey at Reader’sDigest.com recently offered a list of 10 Great Memoirs to Read (along with an interesting list of honorable mentions).
Hers is a diverse list, including memoirs by Katherine Graham of the Washington Post, Thomas Watson of IBM, Art Buchwald, Frank McCourt, Katherine Hepburn, U.S. Grant, Susan Cheever writing about her relationship with her father John Cheever, and Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential. Mackey offers a thumbnail review of each recommendation.
If you love reading memoirs, or need some ideas for your own, check it out.