There are various ways in which historians can research the past. One way is to dig around in the archives looking at primary source documents, which are materials that people have produced in the past and thus they provide insight about the past. Some examples of primary sources are letters, diaries, business documents, ledgers, memoirs, passports, birth/marriage/death certificates, maps, photographs, film, and audio recordings. They can come in many formats such as paper, digital, microfiche, and film reels. You can find primary source documents in several locations, such as in your house and attic, in archival institutions such as special collection libraries at colleges and universities, local historical societies or museums, or in institutional settings such as corporate headquarters. Keep in mind too that you own primary source materials if you write letters, own a driver's license or any type of ID, save any types of programs, bulletins, or certificates, collect stamps, use email, have a facebook or twitter account, etc. How could someone reconstruct your life if they went poking around your “stuff”? (Thinking about this makes me want to go burn my diaries from middle school.)
This week a friend sent me a link to a NBC Washington video, “Holocaust Museum Wants People to Learn Their History,” which is about the World Memory Project.
What I like about this video is that it demonstrates how one can use archival materials to learn about the past and how anyone can “do” history. Also, my favorite line is, “All you have to do is sit in front of a computer and know that you are helping someone in a huge way.” Now, isn’t that a nice thing to hear in an online history class?
By the way, the woman wearing a black blazer working on the computer in the video is my friend and a former classmate from graduate school.
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