Use Your Voice with Jean Alicia Elster

Event Summary

Date(s): Friday, March 27, 2026
Time: 3:30pm-5:00pm
Venue: Gerald R Ford Presidential Library
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Event Description

As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of America, how is your family’s story a part of that history? Join the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library to find out how one author answered that question!

Jean Alicia Elster gathered stories from her Michigan family, also named the Fords, to write her books. Her presentation will focus on learning and sharing family history through oral histories. She will share portions of the oral histories she obtained from family members and then read select passages from her Ford family historical fiction trilogy–WHO’S JIM HINES?, THE COLORED CAR and HOW IT HAPPENS–to show how she used those oral histories to create the narratives in the books.

Celebrate March is Reading Month - orange-red-pink ombre background with 3 books - Who's Jim Hines, The Colored Car, and How it Happens by Jean Alicia Elster - and a photo of the author

She will also offer tips on obtaining oral histories from family members during family gatherings such as reunions, holidays and other celebrations. There will be time for Q & A at the end of the presentation, and if you bring your copies of her books, she will be available to sign them.