Free Fall River Mass. Memories Road Show coming to Heritage State Park and you can be a part of it

Fall River, MA – DCR Fall River Heritage State Park will host the “Fall River Mass. Memories Road Show”. The Fall River Waterfront Cultural District, in partnership with DCR Fall River Heritage State Park, Creative Arts Network Inc. Battleship Cove, UMass Dartmouth Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese-American, Fall River Historical Society, Preservation Society of Fall River, Fall River Public Library, Lafayette Durfee House, the Pocasset Wampanoag Tribe, the Greater Fall River Art Association, and Fall River Community Media proudly announces that UMass Boston will bring the Mass. Memories Road Show to Fall River.

The Mass. Memories Road Show is a free statewide, event-based participatory archiving program that documents people, places, and events in Massachusetts history through family photographs and stories. Whether it is an unframed print or a download on a phone, photographs are history. People are invited to bring photographs to be copied to be included in a state-wide digital archive at openarchives.umb.edu. Contributors are invited to describe the photographs in their own words. In addition, they may also choose to share “the story behind the photos” on video, have their own “keepsake photo” taken, receive advice on caring for their family photos, and learn from one another about the history of their community.

The Memories Road Show will take place on September 16 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Since its inception in 2004, the Mass. Memories Road Show has digitized more than 12,000 photographs and stories from across the state, creating a unique educational resource for future generations, but never in Fall River. A number of the leading regional cultural organizations are joining hands for the first time to make this possible locally.

The September 16 event will be staffed by professionals, historians and archivists and trained Fall River volunteers who will guide participants through the various stations at the event. All ages will be welcome at the event, and participants may attend at any time from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

The Mass. Memories Road Show is produced by the University Archives and Special Collections Department at the Joseph P. Healey Library, UMass Boston, and is co-sponsored by the Patricia C. Flaherty ’81 Endowed Fund. Additional funding for the event will be provided by the Fall River Waterfront Cultural District, Creative Arts Network Inc., and the UMass Dartmouth Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese-American Archives. For further information about the Mass. Memories Road Show, visit blogs.umb.edu/massmemories. For questions about the Fall River event and join the planning team and volunteer, please contact, James Lopes, DCR Fall River Heritage State Park, james.j.lopes@mass.gov , 508-675-5759 Ext. 0 or Sandy Dennis, Creative Arts Network Inc., DENDENLLC@Outlook.com, 508-294-5344.