Make your mark on Fulton history by contributing to the Fulton Public Library’s Memoir Project! If you live in Fulton or the surrounding area, the library would like to hear your stories about the neighborhood or house that you grew up in.

The Memoir Project is made up of volunteers working to help preserve the memories of Fulton residents by interviewing them and turning their stories into a book.

“The Memory Project’s committee reaches out to current and former Fultonians to collect their memories of our city’s past,” said Fulton Public Library Director Caroline Chatterton. “The committee will work with people who want to write their own memories as a story or will sit with those who simply want to tell their stories for recording. Committee members then edit those stories into book form and add pictures and some background history to create an enjoyable reading experience for those who love our city.”

The committee’s current project theme is “Fulton Neighborhoods and Homes.” Committee member and lifelong Fulton resident Mary Kimball well understands the value of capturing neighborhood memories.

“If you consider yourself blessed, like I do, and you remember your childhood, then you might have moments when you close your eyes and almost transport yourself back in time to that incredible era of your life that you simply recall as ‘growing up in the neighborhood,’” said Kimball.

Kimball and other committee members have been reaching out to family, friends and acquaintances to ask them to share their neighborhood memories. Memories that have already been submitted include Fulton’s own “Little Italy,” various seasonal stories about growing up in Fulton and the sense of shared community in one neighborhood thanks to a resident who opened her home to host tea parties.

The committee will continue collecting stories about Fulton’s homes and neighborhoods in the coming months. Participants can choose to write their story themselves or tell their story to a committee member to have it written.

The Memoir Project began 12 years ago and includes six completed books. Each project has a different topic, with past themes such as Fulton’s downtown “Dizzy Block,” veterans of World War II and Korea, area schools and favorite teachers, as well as churches and faith communities.

Memoir Project books are available to check out from the library or purchase at the river’s end bookstore in Oswego or The Village Shops in Fulton.

For more information or to share your memories for the Memoir Project, contact the Fulton Public Library at 315-592-5159 or email fullib@ncls.org.

WHERE DO YOU COME FROM? – The Fulton Public Library is recruiting stories for its latest Memoir Project! Reach out to a volunteer if you have a memory you would like to share about your time in Fulton. The theme for this project is “Fulton Neighborhoods and Homes.” Pictured is contributor Dennis Merlino’s picture of Fulton’s South 10th Street neighborhood during the mid-20th century. For details, contact the Fulton Public Library at 315-592-5159 or fullib@ncls.org.