Save Our Stories Festival

Join us for a joyous, interactive day celebrating and catalyzing community-led preservation and storytelling.
About this Event

The Louisville Story Program is honored to partner with Roots 101 African American Museum and the Community Archiving Workshop Collective to bring you the Save Our Stories Festival!

The stories and heritage of minoritized communities are being targeted for erasure. What can our collective response look like? Join us in exploring how you can be a part of the effort, and have lots of fun in the process!

Saturday, October 10, 2026
11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Roots 101 African American Museum
124 N 1st St, Louisville, KY 40202
Free & open to the public. Advance registration is encouraged (register here on Eventbrite).

The first 200 guests in attendance receive a free "Save Our Stories" T-Shirt and a free meal ticket.

What to expect:

• Explore the Roots 101 African American Museum exhibits
• Learn about inspiring “our stories told by us” projects from the people who are leading them
• Discuss what YOU think needs to be documented, preserved, and passed on, what role you can play to keep these stories alive, and who else could also play a role
• Meet others who share your passion for community-led storytelling and documentary arts
• Try your hand at making documentary videos with the Kentucky BIPOCU Filmmakers Association
• Conduct genealogical research with guidance from the Roots 101 Family Legacy Center & the African American Geneaological Group of KY
• Learn how you can digitize your treasured photographs and videotapes
• Learn how to record stories you care about through oral history interviewing
• See what's on your old videotapes at a VHS viewing station
• Observe or participate in a Community Archiving Workshop in which archivists and community members inspect and catalog collections of materials that are precious to our community
• Practice some of your new skills
• Take home resources for your next step in your own preservation projects

Special Offerings:

These activities are limited and require additional registration beyond the Eventbrite registration here. Please see below.

• Documentary Filmmaking - Facilitated by the Kentucky BIPOCU Filmmakers Association (KBFA). Sign up here for a chance to make your own short documentary. Four (4) selected participants will ultimately need to bring one other person to interview for your story, bring 3-10 photographs to go with your story, and be prepared to speak on camera yourself.
• Genealogy Sessions - Receive guidance from Roots 101's Family Legacy Center and the African American Genealogy Group of KY. This initiative is dedicated to helping individuals and families explore, preserve, and celebrate their ancestry through interactive genealogy resources and guided storytelling experiences.
• Writing Workshop - Facilitated by author Cheketa Tinsley, the creative writing workshop is an interactive experience designed to help participants recognize, uncover, and preserve the meaningful stories already living within their families, communities, culture, and personal experiences. Eight (8) participants can attend the workshop. If capacity is reached, we may be able to offer a second workshop later in the day.
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Thank you to our event sponsors:

Republic Bank, Arthur K. Smith Family Foundation, Jack Harlow Foundation, Brown-Forman, Fund for the Arts, and Community Foundation of Louisville.

Volunteer with us:

You can help! Contact Christine Gosney, Director of Operations, at [email protected].

Thank you:

"Save Our Stories Festival" design by J. Dominique of Lumae Visuals.