What I learned from creating The Chronicle’s Day of Discovery presentation
We at The Chronicle are thrilled that more than 20 people joined us on Aug. 18 at the community’s Day of Discovery event. Assistant Editor Lacey Storer and I presented “More than a Century of Community Coverage — How The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle Reported History.”
Creating the presentation was quite the undertaking, something that retrospectively should’ve been obvious. Lacey and I had to condense 104 years of news coverage into a 75-minute presentation.
We dove head-first into the Chronicle archives (available for free at kcjc.com/archive) with a long list of historical events. During our deep dive, we came across historical opinions from The Chronicle’s editorial board that surprised us, such as the moon landing being a poor use of resources during the turbulence of the late 1960s. There was also a big debate about whether interfaith marriage announcements should be printed in a Jewish publication.
When we resurfaced from the depths of microfiche scans and yellowing newsprint, we had a much deeper appreciation for the breadth of news this publication has covered. In the abstract, comprehending that The Chronicle has been published continuously since 1920 is easy to grasp, but in reading just snippets of contemporary coverage from the past 104 years, one really gets the sense of how much time separates then from today.
Our presentation was augmented by the input and perspectives of attendees. Within a few minutes, someone said that one of the articles we’d highlighted featured her family member. Then, another attendee saw their father’s name among a list of editorials we’d included. As our presentation progressed, it turned out that much of our audience remembered the events we were covering and offered first-hand stories and memories.
We were also honored that past Chronicle Editors Rick Hellman and Barbara Bayer attended and lent their perspectives during our coverage of history under their editorships from the 1990s through the 2010s. Their input and support was meaningful, and we are grateful for both their attendance and their hard work to keep The Chronicle going for decades.
I could go on about this history for hours, but my point is that my belief in the essentiality of The Chronicle for this community has been further reinforced. The opportunity to see the nuances and milestones (and oddities) of the last century through the lens of The Chronicle has left me both exhausted and invigorated. It instilled in me a sense of reverence and served as a reminder that people in the past were just as human — for better and for worse — as we are today.
As one of the surprisingly few stewards of this publication (there have been fewer than a dozen long-term editors over the course of a century), I am honored and humbled to help continue The Chronicle’s mission today and into the future.
