Memory Quest: Reflections on crowdsourcing international testimonies

Oral histories are highly valuable sources for studying the past because they help place events in the social contexts in which they occurred. They can supplement documented histories with unwritten knowledge and often shed light on neglected or forgotten perspectives. However, personal memories can be unreliable narrators (although this is also true for written sources), and collecting memories must be done in a timely fashion because it relies on connecting with living people.

The Legacy of “The Family of Man” Research Project at the C²DH in collaboration with the Centre National de l’Audiovisuel (CNA) began last year with the challenging task of finding memories of a very specific event: Visiting the photography exhibition “The Family of Man”  when it toured the world seventy years ago.

Who will be alive to remember and share such a specific experience? These reflections are written by Emilia Sánchez González, doctoral candidate in the project, while planning a Memory Quest to locate people in their 80s and 90s who saw “The Family of Man” during its World Tour (1955-1963) and can remember it. Or at least, passed on their memories to families and friends in oral, written, or visual forms. Inherited recollections of visiting the exhibition, photographs, letters, and memorabilia related to the show, or even reflections on how the exhibition shaped their views on photography, humanity, or cultural identity are all welcome contributions to the project.

Building a Digital Crowdsourcing Platform

The first step was to set up a landing page for the crowdsourcing campaign. It was necessary to explain the research project and the type of information that interests the team, including some visuals to jog the memory. One had to be the exhibition catalogue, since many might have known the collection from the book rather than the show. The catalogue was a popular gift through the 1950s and 60s and still sits in many homes today. In fact, it has never been out of print. Particularly important was to include a map depicting the international tour, with the locations and years when it was displayed in various cities.

To reach an international audience, it was also necessary to bypass language barriers. After all, the exhibition travelled to over 40 different countries. Currently in 11 different languages, the text of “The Family of Man” Crowdsourcing Campaign encourages people to contribute to a more inclusive and diverse collective memory of the exhibition.

Since people should feel free to contact the researchers in the language of their choice, there is no specification of the languages spoken by the team members.

Finally, since the landing page is only a general introduction, the project will rely on dedicated posters that localize the context, visualize it, and make it shareable. Below is a collage of these local posters, targeting cities like Mexico City, Nairobi, Beirut, Cairo, Jakarta, and Belgrade, which are of special interest to the research project.  Additionally, making use of established networks and the possibilities of digital sharing, posters have also been made to search beyond the primary locations and inquire about ‘The Family of Man’ memories in Japan and the Philippines.

Collage of crowdsourcing and event posters for The Legacy of “The Family of Man” Research Project

It’s also important to note that digital crowdsourcing is planned as an amplifier, and does not replace in-person interactions. The collage includes posters of the first two open forum events organized on site: in Berlin (July 2025) and in Belgrade (August 2025). The crowdsourcing remains open after the in-person event and throughout the research project.

“Tell your story, on your terms”: Ethical Practices in Memory Collection

As a “concerned” researcher (to borrow Cornell Capa’s concept of the concerned photographer), I took the ethical considerations of collecting testimonies as extremely important guiding factors for the oral history methodology. Taking note of the ACTIVE principles that guide our Public History axis at the University of Luxembourg, I ensured that the cost (always free), dates, and location of the discussion forums remained accessible. Before asking to collaborate with local institutions or individuals, I took special care to emphasize the values of transparency and inclusivity of the project, especially considering our positionality as a Luxembourgish institution conducting research in a wide range of locations with different economic and political realities. Adapting to the needs and wishes of the local partners continues to be the key driver of planning the on-site events. Providing me with a space to share my research project demands that they also benefit from the event as part of their cultural programming, a space to highlight their own work, or to connect their institutions with new publics.

Every individual who wishes to share their memories in an interview should sign a consent form specifying their rights to hold agency over the information provided and to withdraw from the research at any time if they wish to. Most importantly, engagement doesn’t end at the research visit.The Legacy of “The Family of Man” Research Project will continue running until mid-2028, and continuous communication with the local contributors is also planned to accompany it during the whole duration of the project.

“Kindly spread the word”: Establishing Networks to Reach Wider Publics

Digital crowdsourcing in the international sphere comes with constant calls for participation across social media channels, newsletters, and personal connections. The research project recognizes that its success largely depends on the networks established at the locations of analysis. The ability to locate and connect with local gatekeepers can make all the difference in the accessibility of research sources.

Considering the case of Belgrade, the National Library of Serbia proved to be a rich source of information for exhibition reports, newspapers, and magazines of the period “The Family of Man” was shown in Yugoslavia (1957,1958). However, without the ability to read Cyrillic or understand Serbo-Croatian, the finding aids remain inaccessible and the process is slow. Establishing a rapport with Biljana Bogdanović, responsible for interlibrary loans, months before the visit, not only streamlined understanding the archives’ system but also made the experience of visiting the library more like a collaborative effort, because Biljana and her colleagues could discuss additional sources that they considered important for me to investigate.

Likewise, personal networks led me to the Museum of Yugoslavia, which graciously hosted the open forum and invited people from their own network. Thanks to their targeted invitations, Mihailo Vasiljevic, doctoral researcher at the University of Belgrade, attended the event and alerted me of documents related to the Yugoslav Photo Association (Foto-savez Jugoslavije) held at the Archive of Yugoslavia and reviews of the show found in local magazines.

I hope to establish similar connections in the upcoming research visits to Mexico City (December 2025), Santiago de Chile (January 2026), and later visits to Nairobi, Cairo, and Jakarta.

“What if I don’t find anything?”: Absence of Information as Part of the Story

The lack of records and untapped memories is a recurrent concern in an internationally-based research project where local connections to archives and sources are not pre-established nor known. Moreover, transcontinental visits require larger budgets and constrain field trips to be done only once. Therefore, traveling to the location analysis and “not finding anything” is an understandably daunting prospect. The core strategy is, of course, preliminary preparation. The longer the project is visible in local networks, the higher the possibility of establishing connections with knowledgeable partners and gatekeepers on site.

Nevertheless, a secondary aspect is the acceptance that people are on the move and might never learn about the project, memories are lost, archival conditions differ from place to place, specific narratives might be promoted to suit those in power, or the importance given to a particular event might not have been as impactful as foreseen. Speaking of absences also helps understand the creation and transmission of historical narratives.  Maybe the local photographic scene was not interested in “The Family of Man” and did not see fit to preserve records of it for 70 years, it is also possible that local governments who supported the show took the records or disposed of them when political shifts occurred, or the materiality of the documents and photographs did not survive the test of time if there were not enough resources to care for them.

Share your memories. Share this call. Help us learn more from local knowledge!