Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Mr. Murphy's first blog post!

[I am reposting this for Mr. Murphy]

Welcome to my first blog ever. I am so relieved that this blog has spellcheck. (Those who know me, know why!) I wanted to be the first entry in the Family & Community Archive Project because:

1. I'm excited about the collaboration between COOP High School and Yale University.
2. I REALLY love history & genealogy ( the study of family history).
3. I REALLY love archives & research. In fact, I'm happiest when I'm in a library or doing research. The time just flies by! (I know -- NO LIFE!)
4. I want my students to learn that their own personal history is important.

My only real regret in life, is that so many of the people I loved in this world have passed away without leaving much of a written record behind. These were some of the most influential people in my life, and I want other people to know of them. They were magnificent and they were important! I want to write down as much of their history as possible, because although they may not have been famous, they were important -- at least to me. I feel that one of my missions in life, is to record their stories so that future generations will know them. Why do you think I take all of those pictures? You students (and I'm assuming it's mostly my student who are reading this) are part of my history and I want to record your images and your stories, because you all are important to me. You are part of my history!

Good luck on discovering your past -- let me know how I can help.

1 comment:

Nancy Lyon said...

Congratulations, Mr. Murphy! You are now a member of the blog community!

This morning I heard an interview on National Public Radio regarding Cokie Roberts's new book about First Ladies. She was saying that the best thing about writing the book was working with the primary source material - reading the letters and other documents that the First Ladies created. Ms. Roberts obviously shares your love of archives and research.

So, you may be studying a famous person or you may be researching your family. . .but it's still the same rush when you see a letter they wrote or a photograph of them or any other type of document.