Telling Historic Stories in a Multimedia World

This was one of my favorite sessions of the entire convention.

Bonnie Stewart, an assistant professor from West Virginia University gave us a few helpful tips on writing historic stories.
First of all, is it important enough to invest any time in? Why do we care about the issue 50 years later?  Did Congress change a law because of this event?
Putting the story in context will help the reader get a better grasp of the event or issue.  What was the political climate when this took place?
Actually go to the place and recreate it for the reader.
Stewart told us how to find some photographs, documents and record that may have been overlooked at the time the event was happening.
She said it is important to make friends with librarians because they KNOW where to get good information. Photos can hide in university and community libraries, in government agencies, at local churches, with families, in newspaper archives and with affiliated organizations.  For instance, if you were writing a story about a mine collapse in the 1960s, you may ask the United Mine Workers Association for some more information.

By using these photos, a historical story could be brought to life through multimedia.

Next up, we listened to Gary Schwab from The Charlotte Observer.  He told us how his colleague Tommy Tomlinson retold the story of Dorothy Counts, a 15-year-old African American girl who walked to Harding High School in Charlotte, North Carolina in a crowd of white kids who spat on her.  The photo is iconic.
Tomlinson took a different approach to this historic story. He found and interviewed the kids surrounding Dorothy Counts in the picture and got their side of the story.  For multimedia, Dorothy retraced her walk to the school.  The other people in the photograph were invited to come as well.
Schwab’s advice for writers was to show not tell the story.  He suggested we narrow the focus and keep the story tight.

To read Tomlinson’s story visit:

http://legacy.charlotteobserver.com/615/story/260059.html