A blog post by Publishing Intern Lily Fitzgerald
In 2024 Modern Memoirs, Inc. celebrated our 30th anniversary—a milestone that prompted us to reflect on the many years we have helped celebrate and preserve people’s stories. Inspired, we decided to tell our own story by publishing Cheers to 30 Years: A Modern Memoirs Company History, which we plan to release later this year.
“By sharing founders’ legacies, these volumes articulate organizational missions and values while inviting readers to reflect on history and envision the future. ”
This is not the first such book we’ve created, as the following partial list of similar titles reveals:
Founding Mothers: Greenwood Methodist Church, Greenwood, South Carolina, 1858 by Joyce M. Bowden (published in 2022)
Conitex Sonoco 35th Anniversary: In Celebration of José Luis Artiga (2017)
The Division of Nephrology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham: 1958–2008, Fifty Years of Excellence by Stephen G. Rostand, M.D. (2013, reprinted in 2019)
A Rare Woman’s Club: The First Hundred Years of the Westport Woman’s Club 1907-2007 (2007)
The Larkin Story by David Larkin (2007)
As several of the above titles demonstrate, many such books are published to commemorate a significant milestone for an organization by documenting its history, growth, and achievements, and by highlighting individuals who played key roles along the way. By sharing founders’ legacies, these volumes articulate organizational missions and values while inviting readers to reflect on history and envision the future.
While we go through the process of publishing Modern Memoirs’ company history, we want to encourage businesses, municipalities, clubs, boards, religious congregations, and other organizations to consider publishing a written history of their own. We are currently working on one such project, a biography of a businessman and his wife whose great-grandchildren commissioned Modern Memoirs to honor their ancestors and gather together scattered pieces of history about their thriving family business, which celebrates its 130th anniversary in 2026.
Whether you are marking a milestone in your organization, honoring a founder’s life and vision, or celebrating a retirement, we are here to help you create a special book about the place and people you hold dear.
Lily Fitzgerald is publishing intern for Modern Memoirs, Inc.