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    German Village Society wins grant to document oral histories of residents

    The German Village Society has won a grant from the Ohio Humanities Council in the amount of $5,000. The winning grant application was written by Jody Graichen. The German Village Society was already in the midst of planning a formal effort to document oral histories when a society member brought the grant application to their attention.

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    “Looking at past winners, it seems like our effort to capture and archive oral histories would be a good fit for Ohio Humanities Council guidelines for the grant,” says Shiloh Todorov, Director of the German Village Society.

    Todorov worked for 15 years as a TV reporter, so video applications are something she is always thinking about.

    “There was quick and easy momentum among committee members to launch this project,” she says. “Plus, it fits perfectly into our mission of historic preservation and education. The very people who were part of saving, rehabbing and protecting this neighborhood won’t be with us forever, so if we are going to educate future generations of Villagers about how and why preservation works, we need to capture these stories right now.”

    Schiller Park in the spring. Photo by Jennifer René.

    The German Village Oral History Project is a subcommittee of the Society’s Historic Preservation Committee. It will capture history from those who remember it first-hand while they are still with us. The oral histories the project plans to document begin in the 1950s. So far, the committee has been documenting about four per month.

    There will be individual interviews, as well as edited vignettes. Todorov says the 5-7 minute, mini-documentaries will cover such subjects as: Backyard “patio parties” where neighbors helped each other build their patios, Development at Schiller Park, Businesses and their role in the Village, Purchase of the Meeting Haus, raising a family in the Village, Haus und Garten over the years, Oktoberfest stories, Third Street project, LGBT emergence in German Village. They will show how neighbors threatened by the urban renewal movement worked together to restore what is now a premier neighborhood.

    “The idea is to capture people who can tell stories about key moments in the Village’s history,” says Todorov. “We hope to achieve a lasting and accurate account of what got us here by who got us here. German Village would not be what it is today without their triumphs, losses, and seemingly-endless energy.

    The videos will be on view at the Meeting Haus, which receives approximately 20,000 visitors each year. They will also be available online at germanvillage.com, archived using the digital museum software Past Perfect, and shared with the Columbus Memory Project.

    “This project lets us not only hope for such a tenacity among future members, but can instill a motivation that will all but guarantee it,” she says.

    Certainly something wonderful to celebrate for the society’s 100th and even 200th celebrations. For now, premier parties are being planned for December.

    Find out more at germanvillage.com. To find out more about the Ohio Humanities Council, visit ohiohumanities.org.

    Photography by Jennifer René of Jennifer René Photography.

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    Anne Evans
    Anne Evanshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-evans/
    Anne Evans is the Co-Founder and Director of Operations for The Metropreneur and Columbus Underground. She regularly contributes feature stories on both sites, as well as Mega Weekend each week. She has started and grown businesses, created experiences, forged community partnerships, and worked to create opportunities for others. She loves meeting new neighbors and those making an impact in our community. Want to connect?
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