ShawneeDispatch.com

Ralph and Carrie Beth Knox's children often had thought about taking some time to record their memories.

But the Shawnee couple, now in their 70s, just couldn't get around to doing it. Then, as members of the Friends of Shawnee Town, they heard about the Family Stories project offered through the museum, in which they could record an hour-long interview about their memories.

"It kind of sounded like fun, and our kids have always asked us to do something like that," Carrie Beth said.

Family Stories is Shawnee Town's effort to record personal histories of Shawnee families, a project funded with a grant from the Kansas Humanities Council. Through the project, the museum hopes to gather more information for the museums' new focus on the 1920s in Shawnee, but officials also want to offer everyone a chance to share and record their memories for posterity.

So on Nov. 27, one of the first days the Family Stories interview sessions were offered, the Knoxes made the trip to Town Hall for a chat. They shared how they both had grown up in Kansas City, Kan., and both went to Wyandotte High School, though they never met there.

Instead, they met at community college after graduating from high school in 1953. Carrie Beth said she had dated Ralph's best friend, who always talked about what a great guy he was. Ralph said they soon fell in love and dated four years, each transferring to Kansas State University, where Carrie Beth received a degree as a medical technologist, and Ralph received a mechanical engineering degree.

Now they have been married 50 years. Though they didn't build their "dream home" in Shawnee until 1966, the Knoxes shared memories of living in Florida and the growth of Johnson County.

"We were very conscious of the big exodus from Wyandotte County to Johnson County," Carrie Beth said. "It was almost a stigma thing to stay in Wyandotte County, which is really sad."

They remembered growing up during World War II, rationing and saving all sorts of materials. Ralph's sister joined the Marines, and Carrie Beth's brother also was in the military.

"People were very patriotic then; they would almost flock to try to join," Carrie Beth said.

The Knoxes had four children and now have 10 grandchildren, who certainly will benefit from the CD recording Shawnee Town made of the couple's interview. The Knoxes said they would encourage others to take part in the project, as well, with interviews offered between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on March 3, April 7, May 5, June 2, July 7 and Aug. 4.

Carrie Beth Knox said members of the older generation forget sometimes the importance of passing on their stories. She said after taking part in the project, she and Ralph hope to find other ways to record their memories.

"These things become obvious to us, because we lived them, but then we forget that people don't know them," she said. "And with four children, we forget which one we've told it to, so one gets a certain story 10 times, and the other doesn't get it at all."

To participate in the Family Stories project, contact Shawnee Town at (913) 248-2360.