Public documents such as legislative records, war records, treaties, and constitutions have been the basis for textbook treatment of major events in national and state history. Until recently, textbooks have concentrated on political, military and economic history, and on important people. Impacts on daily lives and community variations were either omitted or downplayed.
Textbooks now include the social history of the average citizen as well as the big decisions made by the "movers and shakers." Public records, such as petitions from individuals and communities, census and vital records, are being reread for this more inclusive point of view.
Private collections, including handwritten diaries, family travel and business account books, and personal correspondence, play a prominent role in finding clues to a social perspective.
Newspaper, cartoon and broadside files, as well as old directories, (usually in printed form) are examples of other primary materials that can provide important local information missing from the public records.
Images such as old photographs, illustrations, charts and maps are important research sources for gaining a sense of changing customs, architecture and land use, and to develop a sense of place.
Oral history interviews are a tool for better understanding recent community and family history. Taped interviews, properly recorded and edited, are becoming part of public libraries and historical societies. In many cultures, elders and appointed storytellers passed on a group's history and traditions to the next generation, but this country has relied heavily on its written word. Now old stories, anecdotes and legends in local histories are being weighed as evidence of folklife and traditions of community and tribal groups.
Material culture the things people made and used in everyday life such as household goods and personal belongings can tell as much about their lives as their written word. For the "movers and shakers" of a community or region look for these belongings in museums and historical houses. For the common folk, it is often grandma's attic where such treasures are found. Students can learn how family history relates to the community history and begin research on their own family cultural artifacts and traditions.
Landscape and environment: The physical landscape has undergone changes through time due to natural forces and human effort. In many cases, landscape changes can be read through clues such as stonewalls, furrows, and ditches, but often detective work is necessary when clues are lost or hidden. Geological forces often account for the shape of the land. Land uses by people (filling in ponds, cutting down hills etc.) also affect the environmental history of a place. Catastrophic events (hurricanes, fires, floods) dramatically alter the way a community looks and develops. Field research may need to be supplemented by documents, interviews and other primary sources to understand land changes.
Selecting the Primary Source(s): The sources students use depend on their topic and research time. It isn't possible to localize every aspect of the social studies and other curricula, but even one experience with community primary sources will be rewarding at the personal as well as academic level. Not only will it prepare the student for later research when this is required, it may produce a lifelong detective and history researcher.
Secondary sources such as textbooks are important for background and summary of an event or period in American history. They put the local scene into proper context. Textbook authors have taken many materials and organized them by sorting, omitting, editing and interpreting them. This selection process might reflect the availability of sources, but more likely it is based on the author's own ideas about what is important for a student to learn.
Published local histories can provide students with an overview on their community. They also follow the author's interpretation of the materials and put the student at least one step away from the original sources themselves.
If the student wants to find his/her own interpretation, the secondary sources can be important for listing the original materials and basic studies used in the text. The reading notes and bibliography often provide a good starting point.
Resource People and Institutions: Who are the people who can help students find the evidence they need to solve a mystery or problem? Many types come to mindÑ the town or city clerk, local librarian, engineer or geologist, officers of the local historical society, county courts and historical organizations Ñ but it might be the barber or the older neighbor next door who knows about the history of the town or neighborhood.
One small clue can lead to another. Getting information from a secondary source or a reference from a community person or institution can start the student out on explorations of his or her own. See the listing on Resource Locations.