Lampasas museum collects residents' oral histories
Posted On: Friday, Oct. 30 2009 04:14 AM
By Jackie Stone
Killeen Daily HeraldLAMPASAS – There's the burger joint Storm's where locals say Elvis Presley ate while he was stationed at Fort Hood.
There are the rumors of a haunting at Cooper's Springs.
And then there are the everyday memories native Lampasans have of life around the county through the years.
The Keystone Square Museum is targeting memories, stories and local legends such as these as they gather oral histories from longtime residents this weekend.
The goal is to flesh out the many photographs and records the museum has in its archives, and add a personal touch to the history of Lampasas.
"I think the most important thing is capturing these memories before they're gone," said Amy McDaniel, president of the museum.
McDaniel said she has 20 to 30 people signed up for 30-minute blocks of time today. Most are in their 70s or 80s.
McDaniel and the museum – with the help of the Dallas Historical Society and its grant for oral histories – will conduct interviews by appointment and drop in from 2 to 5 p.m. today and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
The Dallas society is providing the equipment. The histories will be kept on record at the Dallas Historical Society as well as the Keystone Square Museum.
McDaniel said she hopes to eventually have copies available at the library and portions on the museum's Web site.
Lampasas native Dealey Campbell, the education coordinator for the Dallas Historical Society, is helping with the effort and training people to gather the histories with video cameras and digital recorders.
Campbell said the Lampasas project started during a conversation she had with McDaniel about gathering ghost stories.
It has now evolved to include personal memories of the area and historical events such as the flooding in 1957 and stories from war veterans.
"It's a project I'm really passionate about, so I'm really happy to be able to go out into other communities that don't have the resources to do it and help them," Campbell said.
McDaniel said the museum will have areas set up this weekend for people who want to speak alone and in pairs. The idea is to make them feel like they're just sitting around a kitchen table chatting.
"That's how oral history is," she said. "It's not necessarily facts; it's people's memories and interpretations of the facts."
While people's stories will likely only date back through the 1900s, McDaniel hopes some people will have tales passed down through their families that date back to Lampasas in the 1800s.
McDaniel hopes to record more histories in the spring and at some class reunions.
"This is an ongoing project," she said. "It can't just end this weekend."
Contact Jackie Stone at
jstone@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7474.