Recently, a
diary suggested collecting the stories of the people who survived Katrina. In that diary, I
suggested a video archive. I've thought about this some in the intervening time, and I'd like to put this idea out to the Kos community for a little bit of thought, possibly leading to serious development.
(more below...)
This would be a large undertaking, no doubt of that. And someone would need to take on a large "curatorial" role, as there will literally be tens of thousands of stories, even if only some of the people involved choose to tell their tales.
The model I am envisioning for this is a variation on Spielberg's "Survivors of the Shoah" project. A compilation of the stories of the people who lived through the end of a city, and really, much of a region. The idea right now is to begin getting some of the stories down, and see what the historians can do with them in the future.
I would, at the start, suggest this: A couple hours per person/family, shoot on miniDV, with good sound, and try to find as comfortable a setting as possible, with perhaps a few leading questions from a producer/interviewer to guide the flow of reminiscences.
This will, of course, require a lot of people in a lot of places, lots of tapes, someplace to put them all, and money to underwrite it all. Before all of that, though, it will need to have a good solid structure to make it a viable oral history archive.
So, I am asking the Kos community, and anyone else you may know with some possible ideas for this, to spare a thought or two for this idea. The stories of these people will, at some point, be a major resource for historians when the tale of Hurricane Katrina and the Flood of 2005 are written. Let me know, right now through some comments, later perhaps through other means, what your reactions are, and also your suggestions.
I will revisit this topic from time to time in the next few days, looking for input and passing along what I've gained from the collective intelligence and humanity of the Kos community.
Thanks for reading so far. Comments below, please.