By Demetra Chornovas
Special to the Reporter

The many and varied ethnic groups sprinkled throughout Dorchester, be they the Vietnamese in Fields Corner or Cape Verdeans in Uphams Corner, all of them have a story to tell of how and why they came to call Dorchester home. A movement is underway to help collect those stories and highlight the similar experiences all these seemingly disparate peoples share.

Residents of Dorchester are invited to share their photographs and family history with the Mass. Memories Road Show in an effort to document local history through photographs and stories. The Mass. Memories Road Show collects and stores family photographs that recount the story of cities and towns throughout Massachusetts. The goal is to unite communities by reflecting through photographs a commonality that exists among everyone.

"This is a great opportunity for people to share their experiences with one another," says Marisa Coleman, director of Social Capital Inc. Dorchester, an organization that seeks to strengthen the community by finding connections that are present throughout the community.

Theme of the Mass. Memories Road Show is "Origins and Arrival," and its focus is learning from where, why, and how families immigrated to Massachusetts, particularly Dorchester. To help answer those questions, residents are asked to bring family photographs that illustrate the arrival of their family in Massachusetts from either very recently or generations ago. The idea is to document the photos and stories of the residents who have contributed to the history of their community.

"Dorchester is the largest neighborhood in Boston that is incredibly rich in diversity and history. There is great vitality in Dorchester and a sense of community bonding and cultural exchange," says Joanne Riley, director of the Mass Studies Project at UMass-Boston.

"It is very important to have the community feel like they are part of a common ground, and that their family history is an extension of that. We want to show that each individual, each family has contributed to the structure of their community," says Tamika Francis-Ferguson, member of the SCI Dorchester Outreach Program.

The Mass. Memories Road Show plans to make two stops in Dorchester this spring. On March 18, the Road Show will visit the Codman Square Public Library branch, and on May 13, it will visit the Dorchester Historical Society in Edward Everett Square. Both events will take place during the hours of 10 a.m.&emdash;3 p.m. The photos contributed by Dorchester residents to the show will be scanned on-site and then returned to their owners. The photos will then be submitted into an online database, expected to be available within a month of the show, where people will be able to access not only their own photos and stories, but also those contributed by residents from other communities.

"The possibilities are endless when you think how we can document using online databases with the potential to grow. The Internet can reach people faster and across farther distances. People will have the ability to research specific cultures, like Haiti for example, and see how many others immigrated to this area with similar backgrounds," says Riley.

Professionals from the New England Archivists will be present at the Road Show informing contributors how to properly store and protect their family photos. All photos will become part of the state wide educational website at msp.umb.edu for educational resource for schools and after school programs intended to engage the younger generations with the project. The Road Show organizers hope to see that young people will take an interest in learning about their family history and what factors led to their families' arrival in Dorchester.

The Mass. Road Show plans to visit all 351 towns and cities in Massachusetts over the next few years, maintaining the common theme of "Origins and Arrival." The Road Show will later focus on other potential themes such as "Vietnam War" or "First Day of School" after the current theme is documented through photos and stories. The Norwood Historical Society hosted the first pilot Road Show in the fall of 2004.

"We all have ties to multiple communities. We live in one town but work in another. We are all part of our various communities regardless of when we arrived here," says Riley.

The Dorchester Road Shows are funded by the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities and are an initiative of the Massachusetts Studies Project at UMass-Boston Graduate College of Education, the Institute for Learning and Teaching. Its mission is to engage teachers and students in their own communities through place-based education, focusing on local history, local heritage, and local culture. SCI Dorchester is responsible for bringing the Mass. Road Show to Dorchester focusing on building social capital and civic engagement in Dorchester communities.

Current photos contributed to the Mass. Road Show can be accessed at Mass Memories.org.