Memories as history

In the black-and-white 1912 wedding photo of Boleslaw and Jadwiga Paciorkowski, the bride is standing, the groom sitting. She rests one hand behind his shoulder and stiffly holds a bouquet in the other. Neither one of them is smiling.

Helen Paciorkowski, the couple's daughter-in-law, laughs when she shows the photo to friends and notes the position of the bride. ''Most of the old wedding pictures had the man sitting and the bride standing," she said. ''And when photography was young, people never smiled. They thought that they had to be serious."

Helen Paciorkowski, 80, inherited the photo from her husband, Ernest, who died two years ago at age 89. But the image -- as well as the story -- of the young Polish couple, who played a prominent role in the development of one of Norwood's ethnic Catholic churches, might still be tucked away in a box in her guest bedroom closet had she not shared it with the Norwood Historical Society.

By mid-December, organizers said, anyone with computer access will have a link to the couple's past and that of many other immigrants who have a place in local history in communities throughout the state.

The Norwood Historical Society is the pilot organization for a new educational project created by the Massachusetts Studies Project, which is based at the University of Massachusetts at Boston's Graduate School of Education, and supported by the New England Archivists Association. The project is designed to gather local resources to help teach history.

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Norwood residents are invited to bring photographs and documents related to their families' immigration and settlement in Norwood to the historical society's headquarters at the F. Holland Day House, at 93 Day St. The images and documents will be scanned into a computer for the Massachusetts Studies Project's website, www.msp.umb.edu, which provides curriculum resources and ideas to teachers in grades K-12 and beyond.

The New England Archivists will provide professionals to examine photographs and documents and offer advice about preservation. Norwood is the first town where the images and stories will be collected, but the ''Massachusetts Memories Roadshow" is scheduled to visit all 350 other communities in the state, said Joanne Riley, Massachusetts Studies Project director.

''It's taking off on the idea of the 'Antiques Roadshow' -- people coming and bringing their precious objects," said Riley, citing the popular PBS television series. ''It's all priceless. Our vision is to go from town to town to do this harvesting . . . It's a snapshot of a community," she said. ''When and how did your family arrive and what brought you here?"

Norwood was chosen as the pilot site because the historical society already had been involved in collecting images and stories of immigrants as part of an exhibition that opened in May, ''The World Comes to Norwood."

''People think of historical societies talking about the Revolutionary War. We wanted to capture the lives of ordinary people," said Elisabeth McGregor, the Norwood Historical Society's executive director. ''We've awakened an interest and pride in heritage in the town."

Helen Paciorkowski, whose son Ernest is the historical society's treasurer, originally shared her images and stories for the local exhibition. She said she is happy they now will become part of the broader memories project.

''You find in any situation that memories get dim and lost and the young people don't remember anything," said Paciorkowski, who has lived in Norwood since 1948.

Even one family's photos, documents, and oral history can shed light on many important pieces of a community's past, McGregor said. And even bits of information that seem mundane could be historically significant now or in the future, said Riley.

For example, Boleslaw and Jadwiga Paciorkowski helped found St. Peter's Catholic Church (which closed in 1997), said McGregor. Although the couple lived closer to St. Catherine's Roman Catholic Church, they traveled by horse and carriage from their Neponset Street home to South Norwood to attend church at St. Peter's each Sunday, according to family history.

St. Catherine's, which was founded in 1863 and still exists next to Town Hall, was dominated by Irish immigrants. ''Many of the [other] ethnic groups felt excluded and very much wanted their own identity," said McGregor. St. George's church was founded by Lithuanian immigrants in 1916 and was meant to serve the Lithuanians and Polish, but the Polish immigrants wanted their own Catholic church and established St. Peter's in 1920.

''Everyone has a history . . . The town serves as a microcosm of the immigrant experience," said McGregor.

''The idea that immigration continues is important to capture. America keeps changing and being influenced by and is enriched by the people who come here. The evolution of business, the rise and fall of churches, the stories of ethnic groups who married -- these are stories . . . that can engage the grass roots, reach people where they are."

Sandy Coleman can be reached at sbcoleman@globe.com.