History Center receives national award for Oral Histories LIVE program

CEDAR RAPIDS — The History Center is receiving a national award for its Oral Histories LIVE programming that preserves the stories that shaped Linn County.

The 2023 award of excellence for Leadership in History comes from the American Association for State and Local History.

The Oral Histories programs at The History Center, hosted by a moderator, showcase a local history maker for a night of stories and questions from the audience. The interviews are recorded, edited and published to become living history books accessible on The History Center’s website.

The interviews also are transcribed and become part of The History Center’s searchable archives.

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Jason Wright, executive director of The History Center, Jason said the Oral Histories program was developed because of the need to capture the stories of those whose lives have had an impact in Linn County.

“So many of these stories have been lost to the ages, and every day that passes brought a permanent closure to so many more,” Wright said in a news release.

Wright will receive the national award Sept. 8 in Boise, Idaho, at the association’s national conference.

“The History Center is humbled and honored to receive this recognition, the highest possible” from the association, Wright said. “However, credit must be given to the dozens of Linn County people who have been interviewed.

“This program would be nothing without them. Their candid stories of struggles, successes and life-lessons-learned have been extremely informative and entertaining.”

Mike Wilson and Esther Wilson were the sole donors behind the program, Wright told The Gazette.

The American Association for State and Local History awards program was initiated in 1945 to establish and encourage standards of excellence in the collection, preservation and interpretation of state and local history throughout the United States.

Comments: 319-368-8877; liam.halawith@thegazette.com