Bryan Wade
“There are no limitations other than the limits we place on ourselves,” Bryan Wade, CEO and founder of “Keystones Oral Histories,” often tells others.
He speaks from personal experience. In his quest to overcome a past filled with loss of family, foster homes and health issues, he has worked toward creating an understanding of the people within any given community and how their lives intertwine beyond racial and socioeconomic constructs.
Throughout his life and 20 years of radio, television and documentary production, Wade has striven to create a fair and balanced synopsis of life within our country and how it is experienced by various people.
He was the producer and host of the popular, award-winning television series “Worlds Apart,” which ran from 1997 to 2008 on local television networks and explored the historic legacy of social constructs, myths and stereotypes of race in America.
Then, in 2007, while recovering from knee surgery, he began working on a documentary for the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg. This documentary has now morphed into “Keystones Oral Histories,” which can be seen on WITF and other PBS member stations around the country.
“Hopefully, if these documentaries resonate and we can do something as a collective—talk to each other without disparagement—there is hope for the people of America and our view of humanity,” he said.
This documentary series began in 2017 with Wade’s longtime realization that many people lacked knowledge of diverse communities and their marginalization in history. This led him to create oral history documentaries highlighting their military and community contributions, which are often scarcely known or talked about.
“We endeavor to create unique regional documentaries, accompanied by companion K-12 grade curriculum, focusing mainly on middle school grades,” Wade said. “It is our desire that all students will have access to our catalogued curriculum system and documentary library.”
The curriculum manual is aligned with Common Core Standards, PA State Core Standards and National History Standards. Currently, this curriculum is available for all local school districts at no cost. Strategically, the goal is to have this type of curriculum and these documentaries available to school districts in all 50 states.
In November, “Keystones,” in conjunction with Ruby Media, will release its third documentary in a 15-part series focusing on the contributions to our society by diverse populations within our region.
This documentary will highlight the history of the Underground Railroad and the abolitionists who assisted throughout south-central Pa. A major focus will be on the collaboration between Quakers, white and Black abolitionists and conductors, who worked together to ensure that enslaved people realized their dream of living in freedom.
“This can easily be thought of as the beginning of a civil rights movement in our country,” Wade said.
For this documentary, Wade enlisted the assistance of numerous regional historians, including George F. Nagle, Cooper H. Wingert, Calobe Jackson Jr., Randy Harris and Scott L. Mingus Sr., in order to deeply research the history of the Underground Railroad in our area.
The first screening of the new documentary will be held at Penn State, York Campus. Additional screenings will be at the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, Gettysburg College, Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster, York College and Dickinson College in Carlisle. After the screenings, the documentary will be available on local PBS networks.
In these days of banned books and attempts to discredit the holistic study of American history, the “Keystones Oral Histories” documentaries provide insights into our region and our country by examining the historic perspective shared by many diverse communities. His goal is to assist people in seeing beyond color.
“When we can see our humanity… beyond the constructs of color, along with class division and various ‘isms’ that have been developed in our culture and realize that we are all the same, we can come together as a country,” Wade said.
For more information on “Keystones Oral Histories,” visit www.keystonesoralhistories.com. The TV series, “Worlds Apart,” by Bryan Wade is available on YouTube and TikTok. Photos by Will Masters
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