The Rise of a Midwest Princess...
Happy Memory Project Monday!
Publishing countdown for The Memory Project’s book: 6 weeks!
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Welcome to the fifth week of The Memory Project’s weekly newsletter! This week, I realized it was high time I introduced myself. My name is Madeleine Cronn. I am a current master’s student at Columbia Journalism School and a proud member of this year’s The Memory Project class. It’s nice to meet you!
While I was raised in the Pacific Northwest, the land of artisanal coffee and the Twilight movies, my family has deep roots in the Midwest going back four generations. The look of American womanhood has changed between the time my grandmother came of age in the 1950s and my girlhood in the 2010s, but the question remains the same: Would we be accepted?
This isn't the full picture, this isn't the whole story.
Like the confines of a memory, this image is cropped. A small detail of a bigger picture and a larger narrative.
As we uncover more about each photograph, our stories will develop to complete the frame.
…
In 1959, my grandmother was 16 and at the height of her teendom in the Jewish enclave of Rogers Park, Chicago. Here, she is on the cusp of womanhood—and that alone was grounds for a celebratory cotillion ball held by her ladies social club: The Kydels.
“It was a real-life princess dress, a real-life princess occasion. I wasn’t playing one—I was one.”
Through our conversations, I want to find out: For the daughter of two first-generation Americans in “America’s Heartland”, what does it mean to grow up?
Trials in Reporting
Updates from members of our team on their reporting process: What have they found out?
Owen Mason-Hill
Right now, Owen is trying to decode his grandfather’s discharge record. He finally received it back from the Military Personnel Records Center after being told that it “possibly had been destroyed in a fire 50 years ago.” After a month of anxious waiting, Owen finally got the document. “It was equal measures thrilling and odd to look at a document he signed when he was my age.”
Cecelia Puckhaber
Cecilia’s conversations with her parents have been truly eye-opening. Now, she feels as though she understands her parents more. “Although I had some knowledge about my parents’ stories and relationship before I was around, our conversations have allowed me to see things from their perspective and understand their personalities more in-depth.”
Ailing Li
Through her reporting, Ailing is finding out how different China was in the 80’s and 90’s compared to now. “I talked to my parents and got a better understanding of their lives in their hometowns,” she said. “It’s very interesting to see how different it is right now compared to when my parents were young.”
Notes on publishing
Weekly update on the self-publishing process.
This week, we had to answer a question that has long plagued writers: do we, or do we not hold an in-person event? In theory, events like these sound great, and help us to connect with our audience face-to-face. On the other hand, they can be a lot of work. If you are a writer thinking about holding an event, make sure to weigh the pros and cons:
Pros -
In-person connections with readers
Networking opportunity to build relationships in the writing world
A great photo-op—A party can be very fabulous!
A chance to sell copies of your work
Cons-
Financial costs can accumulate
Time-consuming— party planning tasks can easily multiply
A lot of additional outreach to publicize
A large existing audience base is needed for a well-attended event
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