Deborah Sweaney
Deborah Sweaney lives in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Farther away from her roots in Missouri than she might like, but the Pennsylvania hills carry a familiarity reminiscent of the Ozarks.
She moved to Washington D.C. just after college to intern for Missouri Representative Jerry Litton, and Washington remained her home for the next thirty years. She worked for multiple government agencies including an internship with the planning organization for the Nixon Presidential Library, the White House Office of Records Management, and finally with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). She and her husband left Washington, D.C. for Carlisle, PA. in 2006. In her words, "After 9/11 the security in the city was so overwhelming, it no longer seemed like fun to be there."
Her interest in family history extends beyond the personal. In 2010 she established her own company, Ancestry Searches, which specializes in on-line searches to unlock the treasures, or solve the mysteries of any family's past. She has worked with several families to write their family histories and inspires people to explore their own unique heritage. She is a member of several professional associations dedicated to the study of history and is on the governing body of First Presbyterian of Carlisle, a 275-year old historic church where she developed an oral history program for the congregation. In addition, she is a former adjunct instructor at Messiah College, the University of the District of Columbia, and Marymount University in Arlington, Va., and has been a consultant for National History Day.
Proceeds from Unpacking Memories will go toward education programs and scholarships administered by the Iris and Frank Sweaney Fund and National History Day.
NOW AVAILABLE!
Unpacking Memories:
The Story of a Suitcase, a Country Doctor, and a Community
Deborah Sweaney was barely eight years old when her father, Frank Sweaney, died. She grew up being told by the community he served that Doc Sweaney literally worked himself to death. He became a mythic figure to her-there in lore but not in person.
Laughter which had been so central to life with my father left our home for years leaving in its place an overwhelming feeling of sadness. And yet, Deborah's mother, Iris Sweaney, persevered and saw that each of her four children attended college and pursued meaningful lives. That could be the whole story-except for a suitcase.
What Deborah discovers in opening up that old suitcase is the heart and soul of Holt County, Missouri, and of the small town of Oregon where she grew up. She learns that tendrils from her father's life and death wove their way into the stories and lives of the community.
Unpacking Memories tells of a time and place that is no more-the 1950's. For those not of that generation, it offers a peek into the real decade-neither Peyton Place nor Mayberry-a place as rich as the Missouri soil that serves as the foundation for the story.
