Two days ago, I was just finishing the setup of a Storytelling Kiosk at Gaston County Museum in North Carolina, when the director of security rushed up to me, and in a hushed voice exclaimed “Bertha Dunn is in the Museum!”
Bertha “Fireballer” Dunn, now nearly 80 years old, was the local sports hero on the 1940’s Mill Village baseball team. Her pitching became legendary, and she was the first woman inducted into North Carolina’s Baseball Hall of Fame.
I hadn’t yet mounted the camera for the kiosk – I was securing it with my hands as we took advantage of the fortuitous moment to record Bertha’s stories. Bertha introduced herself on video: “They called me ‘Fireballer’ because I liked to pitch the ball -- ” (she pauses for emphasis) “ -- fast!” as a wide spark-of-life grin flashed on her face.
Sitting next to Bertha in front of the camera was “Outzie,” Bertha’s teammate and the catcher on the Mill Village team. Bertha explained that her pitches were so fast and hard that at the end of their first game, Outzie’s hand was raw “like chopped steak.” (Outzie emphasized this point by slapping her hands together dramatically in front of the camera.) After that incident, Outzie wore a sponge in her glove to reduce the impact.
And I kneeled there holding the camera fast to the kiosk, nearly in tears, thinking “this is exactly why I’ve been doing this storytelling work. These local heroes spontaneously recording their stories. This is it.”
