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out what to do with them after i m gone on the other hand as a writer with the soul of an archivist i really don t believe in destroying material of this kind both as a memoirist who is not a famous person and as a writing coach i believe that everyone s story is important and i believe that the kind of daily detail that ordinary people record in their diaries is an important kind of historical documentation furthermore once i had opened a couple of my diaries and read bits of them i realized that a the writing is good and b parts or them could definitely be of interest to future historians readers and writers of various kinds i carried my journal with me everywhere and recorded details about the passing parade of new yorkers as i rode the subway sat on benches in central park walked home from the subway in ft greene brooklyn attended the largest nuclear disarmament rally in new york city history i captured things that often no one else saw and most likely no one else recorded and these little vignettes of daily life in new york in the 1980s and 90s are interesting they just are my grandmother s diary 1916 my mother s diary 1973 my diary 1982 my mother and grandmother also kept diaries all their lives and i have them i drew on them heavily when i was working on my memoir a long way from iowa so now it was back to the question of what to do with all these diaries surely there must be somewhere where this kind of thing can be saved can be archived i said to myself there has to be so i did a google search and guess what i discovered that there was no such place at least no such national place until 2022 but now there is thanks to kate zirkle founder and executive director of the american diary project and her amazing group of volunteers who are stepping up and providing a place for americans to donate their diaries and a place for this valuable kind of local family national history to be preserved archived and shared i asked kate if she would be willing to be interviewed via email and she graciously agreed here follows our e interview janet hulstrand how did you come up with the idea for the american diary project and more importantly how have you managed to make it a reality kate zirkle one crisp fall day in october of 2022 i was updating my last will and testament when i was struck by the question of what to do with my journals after i passed should i leave them to someone should i burn them should i donate them these questions lead me down a fruitless internet search i just couldn t find a suitable place to archive my writings in the us upon this discovery i felt an instant electric surge of i would love to do that and thus the american diary project was born my professional background is in marketing so thankfully i had the experience necessary to create a website and social media presence it started out with just me but since opening it up to volunteers we now have over 30 volunteers across the country that help search through diaries to capture metadata transcribe diaries write blog posts and help spread the word about the project it was also self funded to start but now we re officially a 501 c 3 charitable nonprofit organization meaning that donations made to us are tax deductible there s no such thing as a diary that is too mundane too personal or too trivial to us kate zirkle founder of the american diary project janet can you give our readers an idea of the kinds of diaries you are getting what is the oldest one what is the most recent are there any kinds of diaries you cannot accept kate in order to get our collection started i initially took to ebay facebook marketplace and local estate sales to procure diaries now that we re established we no longer purchase diaries instead diaries and journals are donated to our collection to preserve as of march 2024 our oldest diary is from 1859 and our most recent diary is from 2022 most items in the collection are physical diaries and journals although we do have a handful of digital copies of diaries so that the owners may retain the physical copies we also have two large volumes of world war ii letters from 1942 to 1945 written by a soldier harry to his sweetheart bridget back home janet is there any particular advice you have for people who are contemplating sending their diaries to you kate i usually tell folks that they have two options for their personal diaries donate what you currently have now to ensure those are added to the collection no matter what wait to donate all journals at once either way folks will want to add a section to their will that outlines their wishes for all journals to be sent to the american diary project and then list out this website link americandiaryproject com donate diary this should ensure that the executor of their will can find the most up to date donation information even if we move the collection intake location which we will in the near future if folks need help creating a will this is a good resource doyourownwill com i d also like to reiterate that the american diary project is the diary archive for everyday folks there s no such thing as a diary that is too mundane too personal or too trivial to us every story every experience every life is worth preserving please consider donating your diaries rather than destroying them kate zirkle janet can you explain what happens when a diary arrives at your office what are the steps that take it through to being digitized and or archived kate first and foremost we do a happy dance we re so excited to receive new contributions to the collection we then unpack and inspect each diary applying light cleaning if necessary then we document the diary in our online database before placing it into archival storage for preservation we note important characteristics like the year it was written where it was written what it looks like and any additional information we might have about the author as time permits and even by request of our followers we also digitize our diaries we carefully photograph each page of the diary and upload that onto our website a wonderful volunteer takes it from there reading through the diary to capture metadata topics and transcribe the diary we now have many diaries available for the public to read on our website janet are the archives open to the public is there or will there be a catalogue kate our collection is currently only open to the public digitally on our website our long term goal is to open a physical library for in person viewing and research janet what are some of the most interesting entries you ve received the most touching how about the funniest bits you ve discovered kate we share interesting bits from diaries on our social media accounts instagram facebook and linkedin three of my favorite diaries are highlighted on our blog daughter shares what it was like finding her late mother s diary claire reached out to the american diary project to donate her late mother s diary to the collection her mother s 1980s diary is unique entertaining and at times heartbreaking in essence it is exquisitely human and we are honored to help preserve it we are immensely grateful to claire for sharing not only her mother s diary but her own journey with loss and grief as well addicted to mischief the poetic writing of adelaide irvine richter this was the very first piece to enter the collection it ended up being closer to an amateur memoir than a diary but it has such a special story that goes along with it after we posted a blog about the piece adelaide s nephew douglas doug irvine richter got in touch with us to share more information about his amazing aunt addie he also said god bless you and thank you for sharing the info until now i did not know where she was buried she passed suddenly and i had no one to contact to find out i always contacted her caregivers through addie s email account that went dead when she passed it gives me goosebumps to know that we helped addie s family find her how reading a stranger s diary taught me more than a self help seminar ever could this journal is extra special since it came to the american diary project from a man who is still among the living as of december 2022 we keep his identity concealed as much as possible in order to protect his privacy his diary is filled with ample motivational and self help material and is a joy to read the author is still in touch with us to this day janet what kind of donations do you accept hard copy digital only is it possible to submit hard copy and then be able to access a digital version later kate for donations we accept diaries in nearly any medium including those kept in bound journals notebooks and even on loose sheets of paper if you can get it to us we re happy to add it to the collection while we prefer to receive original documents we also accept copies or scans of diaries especially if the donor or the diarist would rather hang on to the original we also accept digital versions of diaries if a donor or family member of a diarist in our collection requested that we send a physical diary back to them we absolutely would after verifying their identity and connection janet i m intrigued and amused by the description of your volunteers as an amazingly dedicated and delightfully introverted group of people why introverted kate i think there s something special about folks who choose to spend their free time reading quietly and volunteering for the american diary project it is often a solitary pursuit and naturally something that appeals to introverts our volunteers are some of the kindest and at times quietest people i ve ever met there are no egos no drama just a like minded group of people doing their part to preserve american history introverts are amazing janet how does copyright work with donated materials kate those who donate diaries to our collection agree to gift the diary diaries to the american diary project to preserve in perpetuity and agree to transfer the copyright of the gifted diary diaries to the american diary project this is documented via our donation form janet how can people help you with this project you re in cleveland i m wondering both what people living in the cleveland area can do to help and also if there are ways to help from a distance kate there are many ways for folks all across the world to get involved by volunteering for the american diary project write blog posts read diaries to document metadata topics transcribe diaries contribute diaries to the collection spread the word about the project donate archival and business supplies via our amazon wish list since we re a 501 c 3 nonprofit we also accept monetary donations to help with our operational expenses we also have a volunteer based board of directors and will entertain adding new directors if anyone is interested janet kate thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions and an even bigger thanks to you and your team of volunteers for taking on this very important work i can t tell you what a relief it was to me to learn that you are out there solving this problem for me and for so many others who care about preserving american history as seen through the eyes of ordinary americans i hope that people who discover diaries as they are going through the contents of a home will consider sending their diaries to you janet hulstrand is an american writer editor writing coach and teacher who lives in france she is coauthor of moving on a practical guide to downsizing the family home and author of demystifying the french how to love them and make them love you and a long way from iowa from the heartland to the heart of france kate zirkle is the founder and executive director of the american diary project share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook like loading filed under interviews with experts keeping the memories preservation tagged american diary project american history archives diaries diariesarehistory diary archives downsizing the family home historic preservation journals kate zirkel letters local history saving diaries 1 comment keeping memories of war posted on may 26 2022 by downsizingthehome as memorial day comes around once more it s time to honor the sacrifices made by veterans of war and their families the picnics are fun and the beginning of summer is joyful but let s not forget the original meaning of the holiday who do you know who should be remembered for their selfless service how can you honor their memory downsizing the home this is my dad s cousin howard who was almost like a brother to him he was a pilot whose plane went down over the adriatic sea during world war ii his body was never found one of the tag lines for our book and for this blog is keep the memories get rid of the stuff and as memorial day draws near it seems to me a good time to think about keeping memories of war memorial day is often thought of as a day of picnics and the beginning of the summer season but at its heart memorial day is really about remembering those who died at war that is why i ve put a picture of a member of our family who lost his life in world war ii above but i think it s a good time to also remember those who came back from war and what they view original post 476 more words share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook like loading filed under uncategorized leave a comment the comforts and sorrows of death cleaning posted on april 30 2022 by downsizingthehome a few months ago the new york times published an articled titled how to discover the life affirming comforts of death cleaning by rhonda kaysen the article uses the book the gentle art of swedish death cleaning by margareta magnusson as a jumping off point to talk about downsizing and decluttering while we are still able to do it for ourselves the book by magnusson is described as a charming practical and unsentimental approach to putting a home in order while reflecting on the tiny joys that make up a long life when the article was published the times asked for comments and then included many of the hundreds of responses in the opinion pages a couple of months later some of these responses were charming practical and unsentimental while others were emotional and touching and some even heartbreaking while the responses from readers ran the gamut many of the people who commented fell into the categories of downsizers we have discussed in our blog the keepers who want to preserve special things as well as memories and will linger over the process and the throwers who relish clearing out and will empty a house quickly but the most moving responses were from people who had had a profound reaction to sorting through all the stuff that belonged to loved ones and shared their stories in the comment section one commenter found the word clutter to be distasteful the word captures none of the wistful sadness of the triage required to ...