University of Connecticut, Office of Sponsored Programs (Greenhouse Studios)

The University of Connecticut’s Greenhouse Studios, collaborating with its Asian and Asian American Studies Institute, will design a replicable community-engaged storytelling model through a remote weekly email and letter-based journaling program to contribute to preserving important historical narratives that may otherwise go uncaptured. This two-year planning grant will develop an open-source Omeka plug-in to collect first-person narratives, which will be tested with the Fudeko project for Japanese American World War II incarceration survivors to refine the journaling methodology. Expected outcomes are a technical proof of concept, enhanced storytelling comfort among elderly participants, and the creation of new archival resources. The project will benefit libraries, archives, and museums by exponentially increasing their capacity to record community stories, particularly for those with less consistent internet access, less comfort with new technology, and mobility issues.