This Site is a project about memory and history. My father and I are close so I decided on a project involving him. I live on a farm that has belonged to the family as long as church records have been written in my county. This site is about my father how much the family history and the family farm means to him, I interviewed him and build the rest of the research process to find some back background information. The research information is just a bonus, the interview and his oral history that have been left through generation is the base of the information we have, and what he remembers from his childhood.

To get the whole research experience and see the process from start to finish, I would highly recommend starting at the bottom with Historical background and working your way up.

The history on this site is presented through my father and his knowledge, also displaying the importance this place and the family history means to him. It is clear that the farm and its origin is important even though he nor we don´t know its origins or a lot about the family. The one thing one can learn from a project like this is the fact that memories and stories might be just as important as the stories itself. When we cannot find written sources, one can often find those oral memories and stories that have travelled through generations, things might have been changed over the years, but the importance of these oral stories might be that they leave the family with some knowledge.

That knowledge can leave emotional and memorable connections to a piece of history or a place. My father would never have chosen to bring his wife and four children out of time to live here if it did not mean anything to him nor us. The interview in the previous post clarifies that the family history and the place is connected to my father and means a great deal to him. The background research might give some extra closure by knowing that some pieces of the puzzle have been filled in, but it is the stories that are told through the generation who gives a person a driving power to continue searching for answers, and they are a memory one want to take care of.

In every room in the house, there are pieces from the past displayed and they represent the past and the people in this house. As my father mentioned in the interview, he likes having the furniture and things around the house because they are complimenting the house and they are pretty, but they also belong here. They belong to the family before us.

The things in the house have not travelled far since its usage. The furthest an artefact from the house have travelled is the neighbouring town in Birkeland with my father when we lived there for 6 years. as you see on the suitcases in the picture above, the flight tags are still on them. They have stayed in the attic since its use and that what makes it remarkable.

One can understand my father’s reason for having the things in the house on display and as a part of us because they were a part of them. As my father mentioned in the interview, he hopes one of us four children decides to take on what so many did before him. Knowing how hard he works to keep things going, and knowing what this place means to him, we hope to keep the history living, and maybe write down what we know to make sure the next generations know all the work that has been put into this place.