Story Ideas?
I am yet another student @ UMD in a journalism reporting & writing searching for a story.
We are working on a history of Duluth story… I was spending some time in Bixby’s and noticed the community knitting project…
I would love to find someone who has a quiet history of working on community grassroots projects… know of anyone?
or any other suggestions?
I hate to break it to you, but you and Brianna might have to talk to actual people in real life. I know it’s scary, but most people do want to talk. Start with old people. Oh, yeah! Barrett’s neighbor will give you an earful.
A good starting place is your local library, your university library and the Northeast Minnesota Historical Center (located in the UMD library). And, as doubledutch mentions, talking to people.
Yep. Throw away the keyboard and grab a notepad.
I disagree with the “throwing away the keyboard” crap. Some of the best stories I found came from internet searches. Or at least they started out that way. Network as best you can, whether that’s on PDD or talking to people. The idea is to reach as many people as possible, so why not try the interent. I’m sure Julin or Hatcher have told you, or made you just go sit in busy places, but don’t be shy. Ask people, then ask people about their friends, then ask their friends’ friends….. you get the idea. Someone knows something, but don’t listen to the people that say ditch the keyboard. That’s only a half-truth.
Don’t worry we are going out there & hanging out — I just like to utilize all types of research. Plus, some people like to communicate this way, others like to talk in person.
At least throw away the e-mail and talk to people. Lots of grassroots great stuff: Mens as Peace Makers, PAVSA, CHUM, Clayton/Jackson/McGhee Memorial. Good luck. Glad you’re doing this.
Hop a slow freight to the Twin Cities. It may not be fast rail but may yield more than enough material for a series, glimpsing the world from a boxcar or a cabooze or a more ‘official’ position from the engineer’s cab. Photo-essay possibilities just waiting for you…as the landscape rolls out like a white carpet.
Go during the day; back on a night run and the moon may be your finest interview…plus, there must be a number of people stories to pick up along the way?
Stretches the boundaries of a strictly Duluth storyline but…
Yup this was ‘off-track’…it stretches your storyline a bit but think of it as a ‘grassroots’ effort to enchance the future of passenger service for Duluth and interviewing the ‘movers-and shakers’ as almost secondary to your fine trip…oh, well, I tried…or save it for another assignment…cheers.
Check out the root activism behind the development of the Lakewalk…volunteers cut brush and laid out a trail that city planners then later developed.It’s a neat bit on volunteers and basic root activism history forgotten… and probably documented among the social fabric clippings of the past in the public library and with the help of a few good librarians, a good story awaits you.
Rachel Johnson wrote her play about housing by hanging out at the Cozy. It’s the Laramie Project method.
Look up Tony Dierckins at X-Communication, he is a local historian and publisher. He could fill your notebook AND your hard drive with unknown local histories..
Think Black History Month. Think Kitchee Gamme Club. Think exclusive membership.
Has there ever been a Black business man or a Native American holding membership in the club?
The ‘social activist’ is the interviewer here. Don’t go in the service entrance but wipe your feet and search away. You may even get a free meal out of experience…even if you have to eat it in the chef’s work station? Explore new history sources, not just cover the same’ol…enough already.
“quiet history of working on community grassroots projects” …hmmm…
Maybe look into the genesis and development of the not-quite-yet completed Superior Hiking Trail. The folks who worked out the right-of-ways with landowners, navigated legal issues, and achieved political backing are unsung heros. The volunteers that scouted, planned, and physically cut the trail through 200+ miles of the north shore ridgeline are a burly bunch that are simply motivated to spend time together in the forest and leave a trail that will generate interest in and access to the north shore’s backcountry for generations.
If anyone is aware of an account of this history already written, please advise.
@ resol: Guide to the Superior Hiking Trail is a good start.
A valuable trail guide for sure, but I was hoping for a less sanitized version of the decades-long initiative. Maybe it would be a story better told when tensions die down some.
To any grateful trail users out there: Check out the shta website for trail construction and trail maintenance volunteer dates this season. Join the org. Support the bid for the North Country Trail reroute. It’ll be hiking season before you know it!
Eraestrawn – will you let us know where the search takes you? This is an interesting assignment, and I’d love to hear what you find.
Of course Beauxbeaux — I will keep you updated!
I’m all about reading the final product on this project … I read up pretty heavily on Isle Royale before the trip over. Call it an obsessive compulsive thing…but I like knowing as much as possible about a location/destination, etc. before I venture out into it.
Getting out into it is great, but the minutiae behind it is always fun to know.