Category: history

history pragmatic historian

Challenge – Using Archival Materials in an Institution

By Mary | by Mary

Here is my second challenge related to locating and preserving historical resources. Challenge – Using Archival Materials in an Institution Visit your local historical society or museum, one that has a research archive open to the public. Ask to see a local newspaper from the year of your birth. Spend time looking through the newspaper, noting anything interesting you find. Be sure to examine what was happening on the day of your birth, even if…

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history pragmatic historian

Challenge: Investigating an Everyday Item’s History

By Mary | by Mary

In my last post, I discussed the bottom level of History’s Hierarchy of Purpose, which was Resource Location & Preservation, the foundation for all of history’s other purposes. Today and over the next few posts, I will issue a number of challenges in order to enhance your ability to locate and preserve historic resources. Challenge – Investigating an Everyday Item’s History Find an item in your home that you are curious about. If it has…

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history pragmatic historian

History’s Hierarchy of Purpose – Resource Location & Preservation

By Mary | by Mary

Unpacking the Hierarchy I introduced a colorful, pyramidal, teapot-esque graphic showing “History’s Hierarchy of Purpose” a couple of blog posts ago. I want to spend some time unpacking each of the levels of this hierarchy, so let’s get started with the base of the pyramid, which is Resource Location & Preservation. Resources That Reveal History In order to study history and make use of it, we need resources that can reveal that history. Lots of…

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