One of the first Chesterfield Remembers interviews features Juan Santacoloma of Chesterfield County Public Schools. (Image courtesy Chesterfield County Public Library)
The story of Chesterfield County is being told in a new oral history series collected by its public library system.
Chesterfield Remembers launched in November with four videos ranging from seven to 37 minutes long. They’re available on the Chesterfield County Public Library website and don’t require a library card to watch.
One of the videos is an interview with Devin George, a Manchester High School student who hopes to become a NASCAR driver, and his father, Allen. In another, Juan Santacoloma, a multicultural outreach specialist with Chesterfield County Public Schools, discusses moving to the United States as a refugee from Colombia. He eventually lived with friends of a relative in Chesterfield for a month before settling down.
“I visit different places, I look around and I ask about the school system, etc., etc.,” he says in the video. “And I say, ‘You know what, this is the place where I want to live. This is the place where I want my family to live.’ ”
Looking to add to its collection of stories, the library system is particularly interested in hearing from veterans and those who can describe life in the county during wartime, as well as centenarians. An interview interest form is available on its website, via tinyurl.com/msyzwpcj.
At a Board of Supervisors meeting in November, County Administrator Joe Casey shared that the project was inspired by a visit to the National Veterans Memorial and Museum in Ohio, which has been recording similar stories.
Mike Mabe, director of Chesterfield’s library services, told supervisors that the project shouldn’t overwhelm library staff, and that they have been trained to conduct the interviews and use the equipment, adding that “if we get two to five a week, that’ll be really good for us.”
“The fact is, there’s going to be so many of these that just really characterize who and what we are,” he said. “It’s a great place to do it, in the public library.”
