By Lisa Carolin
Listening to people’s stories and creating a written and/or oral work about those stories is the profession of Janet Ogle-Mater, a personal and corporate historian, who lives in Chelsea.
The history buff, who is also the president of the Chelsea Area Historical Society, spent the first part of her career as a psychotherapist. She loves to write and wanted to come up with a way to make a living as a writer with historical nonfiction as her genre.
“I had spent more than 20 years working with people, listening to and engaging in their histories, but, of course, not sharing them,” says Ogle-Mater. “The idea of sitting with people and hearing their stories and being able to honor those stories by creating wonderful keepsakes for generations to come, whether a book or whatever, was very appealing to me.”
She used the skills she learned as a psychologist and psychotherapist, such as her understanding of human behavior and empathy, to document clients’ lives and experiences. Ogle-Mater says that it has been a gratifying and humbling experience to capture and preserve people’s stories.
“A personal or corporate history project may take different forms like an oral history, video, multimedia, cookbook, photographic essay, or legacy letter,” she says.
Most of her projects have been books for nonprofit, small and family-owned companies as well as promotional brochures, biographies of their founders, and history pages for their websites.
“For personal history projects my work centers around interviewing individuals and family members, transcribing the material, and editing it into a produced book,” says Ogle-Mater. “The book may be any size or length, soft-covered or hard-covered, expertly designed or simply laid out. The choice is up to the client and his or her budget.”
She says that a typical personal history project ranges between $2,000-$4,000 while a corporate history ranges from $3,000 into the tens of thousands of dollars.
“It’s an investment,” said Ogle-Mater. “However, unlike an investment for a new appliance or car, a recorded history will be around for generations.”
She moved to Chelsea nearly a decade ago and fell in love with what she describes as “the historic architectural landscape” of the city. That’s what prompted her to get involved with the Chelsea Area Historical Society, and when it came time to celebrate Chelsea’s 175th anniversary in 2009, Ogle-Mater created a commemorative book about the city.
“As for what I think makes Chelsea special, it is the community of people first and foremost,” says Ogle-Mater. “Chelsea’s historic resources are much intact, which attracts people to the city. It certainly influenced my family’s decision in making it our home.”
To learn more about Ogle-Mater and her work as a personal and corporate historian, click here.
