I like contributing to Wikipedia. I’ve written twenty-four articles this year and contributed to many more. My favorite part is tracking down odd little bits of history that may be locked behind paywalls or in poorly-indexed websites or archives which are not that accessible via search engines. And, of course, search engines aren’t what they used to be.
I’ve gotten more involved with my local historical society (Randolph Historical Society, or RHS) in the past few years. My friend and neighbor, Forrest, is the newish president. There are endless opportunities for organizing and creating more access to collections which have, in the past, been mostly behind a locked door of an infrequently-opened building. As one example, the email box of this historical society hadn’t really been checked or maintained since the last president died several years ago. And, of course, there is also history locked within the memories of people who maybe just hadn’t been asked about it. So, we did a few things… Continue reading “Contributing to history”