Elspeth "Eppy" Kerr was a boarding student at Punahou School when she and her classmates walked out of Dole Hall after breakfast and saw planes flying over Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

Despite a radio report advising residents to take shelter because of an air attack, Kerr and her classmates decided to go for a swim at the campus pool anyway.

"We were there when a bomb dropped on a store on King Street, (a few) blocks away from the campus," recalled Kerr, 80, of Makiki.

They rushed out of the pool and crouched down by a cement wall for cover.

"We were a little shaken," she said. But no one was hurt.

Her recollection of the first hours of World War II is among dozens of other vivid memories from Kerr's personal history — woven together with black-and-white family photos and 8mm home movies — and compiled into a 35-minute DVD for her family and friends to cherish forever.

"They loved it," Kerr said. "Especially the home movies."

Kerr's life chronicle on DVD is one of about 15 produced and directed by Janette Sargent-Hamill, a social gerontologist and independent filmmaker from Kane'ohe. Sargent-Hamill will teach others how to create such documentaries and other projects to preserve personal, family or community histories at a workshop, "'Ohana Chronicles," on April 24 at Kapi'olani Community College.

The workshop is open to anyone, even those with no video experience, she said.

"I talk about tools to get them from where they are to a finished product," Sargent-Hamill said.

Sargent-Hamill has been working in the field of aging since 1992 and has been documenting elder and family histories since 1996.

"I've always really enjoyed older people ... and I've always loved storytelling," said Sargent-Hamill, 58.

She feels passionately about sharing her knowledge so that others can learn how to preserve their own personal and family histories.

"When our storytellers are gone, our history is lost," Sargent-Hamill said. "It's really that simple."

FAMILY TREASURE

Sargent-Hamill's desire to document family histories stems from her time as a student at the University of Hawai'i, specifically during a sociology of aging class.

"We were talking about family stories and storytelling and how that gets passed down," Sargent-Hamill said. "One of the things that stuck with me was that if stories aren't documented, they're lost in two generations. That was pretty amazing."

After that class, Sargent-Hamill decided to film her dad, then 88 years old.

"I just had a funky, old video camera and I set it on the TV behind me because I didn't even have a tripod," Sargent-Hamill said. "I didn't have him miked. Nothing."

She interviewed her father for about an hour.

"My dad's gone now, and this is just the most valuable thing that I have," Sargent-Hamill said.

But Sargent-Hamill is grateful she captured more than just her father's stories.

"I don't think what most people realize they're going to miss about someone when they're gone is the essence of the individual," she said. "You can hear it in a voice, but to see it — (my father's) gestures, his beautiful hands, the way his hands moved."

Sargent-Hamill loves how she caught one particular mannerism of her father's on tape.

"He used to have a habit of slapping the table when he'd talk," Sargent-Hamill said and laughed. "He does that all the way through this. It's just so my dad."

After he died in 2000 at 91 years old, Sargent-Hamill had a friend transfer the VHS tape onto DVD and she sent copies to her immediate family.

"My grandnephew, who was only 4 when my dad passed away, will now be able to get an idea of who his great-grandfather was and what the world was like when he was young," she said.

WORKSHOPS OFFERED

Through her company, Windward Productions, Sargent-Hamill offers her expertise and guidance to the general public. She helps individuals and families with training, organizing, producing, filming and/or editing important events and personal histories.

"Whatever piece of this puzzle people can't do themselves, I will help them do," she said.

Services range from free consultations to taped 60- or 90-minute interviews transferred onto DVD for $350. Other services Sargent-Hamill offers include doing video production, editing, creating photo slideshows and holding training workshops.

With an interest in the inter-generational aspects of documenting elder and family history, Sargent-Hamill also is available to present workshops in classrooms to give teens the tools they need to interview and document their grandparents' life stories on video, she said.

The kinds of people who consider Sargent-Hamill's services vary, she said, and may include parents wanting to create photo slideshows on DVD for their childrens' birthdays, families interested in presenting a family history documentary at a reunion or travelers making movies of their adventures abroad.

Lana Kalahiki, a legal assistant from Kane'ohe, attended Sargent-Hamill's "'Ohana Chronicles" workshop last month.

Even with no experience using a digital camera, Kalahiki looks forward to using what she learned from Sargent-Hamill to tackle various projects to preserve her family history.

"I have a lot of photographs ... especially of my mom, who recently passed away, so I'd like to be able to scan them and put them on DVD," Kalahiki said.

She'll probably do the same thing for other family members, as well, she said.

"My mother was actively involved in our family genealogy along with the 'ohana of her generation," Kalahiki said. "I am interested in documenting family history to share with my 'ohana."

Eppy Kerr, the Makiki resident, said she's glad she worked with Sargent-Hamill to document her family history, and Kerr encourages others to do the same.

"I think it's a great idea for people who want their descendants to know what life was like when they were young and growing up," Kerr said.

Reach Zenaida Serrano at zserrano@honoluluadvertiser.com.