Priscilla Richardson

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"My late grandmother was a teacher for the Singer Sewing Company," said Buchanan's Susan Mason, 55. "She would sit in a department store window and demonstrate their machines. Her first job in was in Berkeley, California, when they fired the woman who was there for being pregnant. She told me she always felt bad about that but she needed the job. She traveled the country and worked for Singer for most of her life. She ended up in Delaware. She lived to age 105. When she died she was still getting a pension from Singer. She taught me to sew."

These aspects of one woman's life history were recorded because Mason's passion is personal history, especially women's stories. She wrote her grandmother's obituary after talking to her toward the end of her life.

Now, in hope that other stories will not be lost, Mason is running a workshop at the Botetourt County History Museum strictly for women about age 50 and up. Why just older women? "Most men's stories are preserved in history books; most older women's stories are not honored and not preserved," Mason said. She believes that "older women have a wealth of wisdom to share."

Why just women in this workshop? "When you get women alone without men there, they are more forthcoming than when men are there. I've done presentations with men, and the women aren't as vocal," Mason said.

Based on her experience in leading several workshops, Mason said that older women are eager to get their histories down and eager to share their perspectives. She said they're respectful of the validity of others' perspectives, too. They've all had different obstacles, problems or health worries, for themselves or family members. How they overcame them turns into their own stories.

In the workshop, participants make up a list of words or phrases related to them. These words often relate to key relationships in a life. Mason calls these words "prompts," things that prompt a story. For herself, Mason recalls two key relationships, one with her 11th-grade English teacher, the other with a nun from elementary school. "Each one prompts a story," Mason said, "such as who they were, what they looked like, how they impacted my life."

Sometimes it's not easy to come up with these prompts. But hearing someone else's list helps participants create their own -- what I would call the "oh, yeah" factor.

The women in the workshop group write a short essay or story about their own key relationship. Then they share the stories. "I've discovered that we do have a lot of things in common," Mason said. "A lot of us are mothers, a lot are seeking for personal meaning, asking why we're here on this planet. These exercises help people feel better within themselves."

For this workshop being given at the museum, the Botetourt Historical Society is also asking each participant to donate one of her stories. They'll appear in a booklet the society will publish to sell at the museum.

How does someone train to lead personal history workshops? You first need passion for the stories, combined with empathy for the subjects. Mason started Homespun Legacy after getting a data processing degree from Virginia Western Community College and a bachelor's degree from Hollins University. She's also worked as a computer programmer for the city of Roanoke, a technical writer for a medical software company and a certified leader for La Leche League. And she interviewed D-Day veterans for the history project for the National D-Day Memorial.

To register for the class, call Mason at 473-3998 or e-mail her at susan@homespunlegacy.com. The $75 fee covers the workbook materials and the cost of publishing the booklet at the end. Enrollment is limited to 12. The meetings will take place every Tuesday in April, from 6:30 to 9 p.m., and the first Tuesday in May at the same time, all at the museum.

So plan to come and share your own slice of history.