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​Pennsylvania State Archives Community History Dialog

Ophelia Chambliss presenting at the CHD




Our Community History Dialog

The purpose of this Community History Dialog (CHD) is to bring together members of community organizations (or any interested person) to learn how to save the history of a community. If you’ve ever wondered “what things should my community save to show future generations what we did?” or “how do we take care of the old things we already have?” this dialog is for you. Preserving your history can seem like a challenge, but with the right tools and help you can do it!

Some speakers have shared their own experiences collecting and preserving their community’s history and some have given advice on how you may collect and keep your history. The discussions can be helpful for communities that haven’t even thought about the past of their group,  are just starting to preserve their history, or  have collected a lot already but don’t know what to do next.

The goal of these discussions is not to collect and preserve your historical things in the State Archives, but to  empower your community to preserve its own history and tell your own stories in a way that works best for you. This could mean working with an archives or working on your own.​