Personal Histories (part 2)

So, I have had the privilege of helping several people write their personal histories. As a journalist it has been like doing several mini-interviews asking questions about their lives. And I am always amazed at the variety of experiences these people have had. A lot has changed in the world in the past century, it’s nice to document these experiences. If you get a chance to talk to an older person, they are usually surprised that anyone wants to know about them, but also more than happy to chat. However, there are the few, who don’t really want to talk.

My great-aunt never married, she lived in a small house in Ogden, Utah with her brother, whom she cared for until he died. She had been a dancer, but none of us knew too much about her. I decided to ask. During a series of telephone interviews, I found she had been a faculty member at UCLA, and also at the University of Wisconsin. She was at the very founding of the modern/contemporary dance programs there. And had taught Joanne Woodbury, who went on to found the Ririe Woodbury Dance Company.

As a dancer myself, it was wonderful to hear about her career. She left her teaching position to come back to Utah and care for her mother, and never returned to her career. My aunt died before I finished her life story. But the whole family was amazed to learn about our old-maid aunt, who had a beau who was killed in the war, and a career when most women didn’t. How glad I was that I had asked.