Family history presentation will look at 'women living ordinary and extraordinary lives'

Caithness Family History Society’s June meeting will include "stories of joy and stories of heartbreak" centred around women from the Highlands.

The event next week will take the form of an online presentation by Lorna Steele-McGinn, community engagement officer at the Highland Archive Centre in Inverness, entitled Women in the Highland Archive Service.

Lorna is the presenter of Learn with Lorna, Highland Archive Centre’s series of short films about the documents in its collections, which are broadcast on all four of its Facebook pages with all films subsequently made available on the High Life Highland YouTube channel.

Lorna began work as an archive assistant at the centre in 2014 and was appointed community engagement officer in 2017. She says she loves working with historic documents, deciphering handwriting, uncovering stories and connecting people to the region's past.

“Much of history has been written about, and by, men but many women have also left an archival footprint through letters, diaries, photographs and other records," Lorna said. "We will delve into the service’s collections to uncover the story of women living ordinary and extraordinary lives across the Highlands and across the centuries.

"We’ll look at nurses and artists, musicians and writers, fundraisers and lawbreakers – stories of joy and stories of heartbreak. We’ll discuss how your local archive can both shed light on those who came before and help you leave your own mark on history.”

The event is on Tuesday, June 13, at 7pm. To register, email caithnessfhs@btinternet.com

The deadline for registration is this Friday.

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