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| Marlborough Apartment Hotel. MH5 9 MP3 1M p80. |
Under the progressive tutelage of Publications Director,
Jill Morelli, the
Seattle Genealogical Society recently held its first-ever family history writing contest. Participants were invited to submit creative nonfiction entries relating to family history of 2,000 words or less. I was delighted to receive the news that my entry,
Fire and Ice: Deadly Disaster in Minneapolis was selected as the first prize winner!
Fire and Ice is the story of my great aunt, Marguerite Oberg, her husband William Lee Coovert and their sons, Sander and Edward, and the Marlborough Apartment Hotel fire that took the lives of 19 people in the early morning hours of January 3, 1940, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
As exciting as it was to win, the experience of writing this story was the real prize. It rekindled my belief that only when we take the time to weave together the various names, dates and facts we've accumulated into a narrative form that we're really able to synthesize the story, analyze what is missing and identify what questions remain. I also believe something is better than nothing. Too often researchers get caught up in looking for
just one more thing before beginning to write. So, that leads me back to this blog... where I plan to share stories of my family's history and also capture my research in progress. Stay tuned!
