“Our younger audience cherishes their local history, one address at a time over and over…..”
Years ago, I was told that young people don’t appreciate history. A relative who teaches college, has even stated he couldn’t get his students to willingly conduct serious research at the local archives, library or museum. He therefore requires they do so, no using the internet for research – oh how they hate it!
This has not been the experience of R&R’s co-founders. Instead we have witnessed numerous times when young people are engaged in local history through their smart phones and pads to explore, experience and learn about local history. Just last week, while paying a bill at a local store, the “young” manager made a point of telling me how much she and her entire family appreciate the information and images provided by Roots and Recall. Her enthusiasm for the content was rewarding, “just another young person expressing her enjoyment of history.” It reminds us that R&R has two audiences: 1) older Americans who mistrust the internet but have the content needed to build its pages, and 2) all those millions of young person who enjoy the discovery of it through the internet. We would love to have an answer as to how best to merge this generational gap.
The largest sector of R&R users is the 24-35 years of age bracket, this sector uses the site 33.5% of the time. Doing the math, this means approximately 10,000 pages are accessed by young people each month. The next largest group is that of the 18-24 age group that uses the site 27.5% of the time. Not surprisingly the over 45 group(s) represent only about 25% of the usage. So, don’t try and tell R&R that young people don’t appreciate their history, they simply like it in a different and easier format. Logically, the R&R county sites most used, are those having the most content: York, Chester, Fairfield, Charleston and a few others represent about 40% of the counties searched repeatedly. You too can change this diagram by having your local historical society do more to contribute to R&R’s pages – at least the museum’s content will be viewed!
On another lighter note, if you are a member of R&R we hope you are already enjoying the features offered: updated content notifications, the weekly Blog and the favorites option. These are all features members can use to enhance their experience. We also want to hear what “new” features you would also like to see provided by R&R? Please take a minute and email R&R at rootsandrecall@gmail.com, we really do hear your suggestions.
A few updated pages loaded to the website:
- Near Richburg, S.C.
- Trinity Church – Abbeville, S.C.
- Jamison’s Turnout
Last Friday, R&R was a participating sponsor of S.C.’s annual Preservation Conference at the S.C. Dept. of Archives and History. Our booth was in a prime location but much of the morning was unproductive – few people stopped. Well, that all changed when unexpectedly the keynote speaker, mentioned R&R’s preservation program, in her speech just before lunch. The afternoon was
packed with retirees as well as young people stopping in to discuss our work and explore just how R&R could be incorporated into their own preservation programs. The “young” mayor of a S.C. town, has already started the process of building their community’s history pages. Several large preservation organization and a museum, are also exploring options to begin expanding their content to the R&R website. Approximately 220 people attended this conference and R&R couldn’t have asked for a better reception, thanks!
R&R Follow-up: If you read the blog concerning slate roofing, you would have noticed an image of a young girl, Minnie Mobley. The house from which the slate was removed was the Mobley House, and part of R&R’s mission is to explore and link data. We sure heard from members of the local Mobley family, who are emphatic, Ms. Minnie is not part of their family! We had purposely added her image in the hope of discovering her identity. The image was procured by R&R, in a massive collection of the Mobley’s next door neighbor, the Hutchison family. Having come from the adjacent neighbor, we had anticipated she logically might be part of the Johnston Street Mobley clan. This collection had been provided R&R by a local attorney, who is diligent in helping preserve local history. His firm engages R&R to assist in the preservation of collections, when there are no heirs – rather than collections being thrown to the gutter. R&R ultimately deposits them in archival facilities. Ms. Minnie Mobley’s image was part of this massive collection.
So, if you know the history of Ms. Minnie Mobley, do share it, we remain very interested in linking her image to the appropriate family!
From the Porch – Blog @ RootsandRecall.com – 4.27.17