The Stories of Farmington Initiative is an ongoing project of the Farmington Historical Society that attempts to capture our local history and make it come alive through storytelling. The collaboratory project seeks volunteer participants who currently or formerly lived in Farmington to share their favorite stories about Farmington, or about their lives in Farmington. The Society wants you to share your stories about past town events, family memories, friendships, favorite objects, or your favorite memories of life in Farmington past or present. All you have to do is make an appointment to have your story recorded by the Historical Society.
Permission to Store and Use Your Biographical Information
The goal of the Stories of Farmington Initiative is to preserve Farmington History, past, present, and future, by collecting, storing, and preserving the stories and biographies of the people who lived here. The Farmington Historical Society intends to preserve and store your biography or story as one of many representatives of our Farmington residents so it can help future historians build a clear and detailed picture of the people who lived in our town. It can also be used by future generations for genealogical research and documentation of the history of our town. In the near future, the Historical Society may also wish to feature some of these biographies or videos in some manner or form in our online museum or public museum space. But we will not use any information we do not have your permission to share. At the end of the survey, you will be asked to tell us how we may use your biography. You may give us permission to preserve and store your biographical information for future use only. Or, you may give us permission to publish this information as part of an online or public museum exhibit, as well as to preserve and store your biographical information for future use. The Historical Society will only use the information you provide for us according to your wishes.
How to Participate in Recording Your Stories of Farmington
Make an appointment with the Historical Society to record your story. We can come to your house, meet you at the Historical Society Museum, or any place in town you want to use as a backdrop for your story. If you just want to participate and want to prepare a bit in advance, plan to take about 3-5 minutes to tell your story about you and your relationship to Farmington. Your story should answer the following questions:
- Who are you and how long have you been in Farmington?
- What is it you want to talk about: object, event, location, time, family, etc?
- How does this relate to both you and to Farmington?
- Why did you select this particular story?
- Why is it important to you?
Along with the brief stories about Farmington, the initiative also seeks to gather biographical information about the people who live in Farmington, and help make Farmington the town it is. Our goal is to preserve the essence of Farmington's greatest resource, its people, for future generations and genealogical research. Individuals can participate by preparing a brief biography and submitting it to the Farmington Historical Society. To make it easy for folks, the Society has developed a short survey of questions that when answered can be used as a template for your biography.
The template is available for submission online, or by mail. The Farmington Historical Society would prefer you to complete this biographical information form digitally either by using the online submission form, or by downloading the document, completing it, and emailing back to FarmingtonNHHistory@gmail.com. If you choose to download and print the pdf, and fill it out by hand, please write as neatly and clearly as possible. You can mail your submission in to the Farmington Historical Society, 422 Main Street, Farmington, NH 03835, or bring it to a meeting and submit it. Handwritten forms will be converted to digital formats for storing and preserving.
Download the Biographical Information Template as a PDF for printing and hand written submission.
Download the Biographical Information Template as a Word Document for digital submission via email.
Take the Online Biographical Information Survey for submitting your information online.
Tips on Writing Your Biography
- Be brief and precise to the point. This is to enable the reader to easily and quickly get to know about you.
- Be spontaneous in your writing, friendly but not too informal.
- Be as expressive as possible and avoid too much of self-editing while drafting your biography in the initial stages to capture as much information as possible.
- Be as true to your character as you can be in order to let your personality show in your writing.
- Feel free to skip questions or sections that you are not comfortable sharing. You can provide as much or as little information as you see fit. Share what you want to share in the way in which you want it.
Permission to Store and Use Your Biographical Information
The goal of the Stories of Farmington Initiative is to preserve Farmington History, past, present, and future, by collecting, storing, and preserving the stories and biographies of the people who lived here. The Farmington Historical Society intends to preserve and store your biography or story as one of many representatives of our Farmington residents so it can help future historians build a clear and detailed picture of the people who lived in our town. It can also be used by future generations for genealogical research and documentation of the history of our town. In the near future, the Historical Society may also wish to feature some of these biographies or videos in some manner or form in our online museum or public museum space. But we will not use any information we do not have your permission to share. At the end of the survey, you will be asked to tell us how we may use your biography. You may give us permission to preserve and store your biographical information for future use only. Or, you may give us permission to publish this information as part of an online or public museum exhibit, as well as to preserve and store your biographical information for future use. The Historical Society will only use the information you provide for us according to your wishes.
Submit a Biography Online
No comments