About

Voices from HOME is a community-based oral history project coordinated by the Thompson Free Library and funded by a grant from the Maine Community Foundation.

Voices from HOME provides recording equipment and interview guides to help you conduct interviews with family members, friends, and neighbors. It also hosts recording events, storytelling programs, and oral history workshops around the Heart of Maine region (Piscataquis County and neighboring communities).

Recordings collected by the Voices from HOME project are stored at the Thompson Free Library and will be shared via our online archive for use by students and other community members.

Project goals:

  • Connect community members across generations and experiences through the act of sharing and listening to stories.
  • Explore the past, present, and future of life in the Heart of Maine.
  • Create an online archive to preserve our region’s history for use by students and other community members.

Resources:

Tips for Interviewers

Release Agreement [pdf]

Presentation Slides

Interviewing a Family Member

Themed Interview Guides

Ways to get involved:

  • Come to one of our story slams or themed recording events at different locations around the Heart of Maine.
  • Check out a recording kit to interview a friend or family member at home. 
  • Attend an oral history training to become a project interviewer.
  • Contribute recordings, photographs, or other materials to our online community archive.
  • Contact the library if you would like to share your life story!

Past events:

Posters:

Listen to audio from our Feb 21, 2020 Story Slam on the theme “Changes”: