Handcrafted Stories: Our Values Brought to Life

All stories have value and importance, but what stories do we value? What are the officially histories that we feel our children must learn to understand our cultural values?
Social history was a movement in the field of history in the 1960s and 1970s but now 50 years later it is not new but is firmly established as a history as valuable as political, economic or military history.
Along the way historians have applied creativity to establish the validity of new sources as reliable - oral history, music, landscapes and place and the artworks crafted by average people. 
While visiting Chania, a port city on the island of Crete, we visited the Folklore Museum of Agia Marina - Cretan rural house, and were captivated by the deliciously bright colors and serene scenes depicted in embroidery with silk thread. Our museum host was using a machine to create another spirited scene of rural life in Crete.

These colorful works of art tell important stories of community life. Since the post-WWII civil war and dictatorship, poverty has driven many Greeks from their villages to cities. Cultural celebrations every season still abound but they are not the same. Modernity is embraced as Greece chugs into the twenty-first century with the rest of the world.
As has so often happened during my research, I thought of a student whose independent research taught me important lessons about culture and how to value information. Jamilla is Hmong. Her day began before sunrise as her commute by bus from Milwaukee to our school in the suburbs took over 90 minutes each morning and afternoon. She often missed school because she had to stay home to watch cousins or siblings while parents in her family worked. When it came time to complete our National History Day projects she was certain she wanted to tell the story of the Hmong community. Narrowing down such a broad topic for students was always a challenge and we struggled with what part of the history of the Hmong people to tell. In the end, Jamilla stuck to her plan to tell an overview of the Hmong people. This didn't fit the "criteria" for the project but making the exception was essential. Jamilla struggled to find print sources so she conducted an interview with her father that lasted over an hour. Together we found many great sources in Minnesota and today there are even more in Wisconsin. Many featured Hmong story cloth. 

Hmong story cloth is both a vibrant art form and a detailed piece of Hmong culture and history. 
National Geographic features a lesson immigration featuring a Hmong story cloth: ​https://www.nationalgeographic.org/maps/hmong-story-cloth/
Another great resource is available here: https://garlandmag.com/article/hmong-in-usa/
When Afghan refugees started arriving in the United States after the fall of the American-backed government in 2021, many referred to the arrival of Hmong people seeking refugee in the 1970s and 1980s but few of us in Wisconsin understand the history of sacrifice or the richness of Hmong culture.
How do stories share our values?
The act of creation pushes us to make what we value visible. Embroidery takes time, patience, and skill. The artworks here, whether Hmong or Cretan, immortalize community events, transforming memories into images. How much more powerful than curating the perfect Instagram feed! Yet, both our social media images and the handiwork of women from history reflect what is important to us.