“The wise man must remember that while he is a descendant of the past, he is a parent of the future.”
--Herbert Spencer
“Those who do not look upon themselves as a link connecting the past with the future do not perform their duty to the world.”
--Daniel Webster
“Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.”
--Napoleon Bonaparte
Every organization has a story…
…and that story is one of the organization’s most valuable assets. In a sense, an organization’s history is its soul—a unique set of personalities, events and circumstances that no one else has.
Your business or organization history is worthy of careful attention, preservation and celebration because it can increase client confidence and foster employee/member pride and loyalty. People like to be associated with a group that has healthy roots! Moreover, successful organizations have solid values, and it is important for each generation to pass those values to the next.
Capture, protect, publish (and persevere)
Although the key events, personalities and values of businesses and organizations differ, the process for preserving them ideally includes the following elements:
- Capturing means collecting in one location all previous histories, photographs and documents of possible historical interest. It will likely mean recording oral history interviews with key individuals—especially those who are at or near retirement age. “Capturing” could also mean conducting research in areas of industry, community or national history that would allow an historian to place the business history in the context of those events and developments.
- Protecting means cataloging all the assembled historical assets and archiving them in ways that will enhance the odds of preserving them.
- To publish historical information, a firm’s leaders need to discuss their potential audiences and what aspects of the history would be most relevant at this time. Potential formats include books (hard cover or soft cover), booklets, DVDs, a web site presentation, advertisements, a waiting room display or any combination of formats.
- Persevere. History keeps on happening! An organization would be wise to establish policies that will assure ongoing collection and preservation.
How can we help?
Perhaps you’d like us to record an oral history interview with a retiring employee. You might also like us to record a “This I Believe” statement of a founder or senior executive—thus preserving some of the values of your organization. Maybe you’d like help writing or editing a short (or long) history of your organization, or you might need information about archival storage materials for your photos and other documents. Could you use a short DVD documentary about your business? Is it time to celebrate your success with a hard cover book?
Whatever your needs, please call for a free one-hour consultation. We are happy to provide references, show you samples of our work and estimate the cost of your project. Start now, start anywhere and enjoy the process of creating a link between the past and the future of your organization.