Nearby History: Exploring the Past Around you

Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Spring 2002 by Small, Nora Pat, Reid, Debra A

Nearby History: Exploring the Past Around You, 2nd edition. Edited by David E. Kyvig and Myron A. Marty. In The Nearby History Series, Kyvig and Marty, eds. (Walnut Creek, Cal.: AltaMira Press, in cooperation with the American Association for State and Local History Book Series, 2000). xvi, 285 pp. Photographs, appendices, bibliographic references, index. Cloth, $65.00, paper, $24.95)

How do you examine the relationship between local events and trends and national events and trends? How do you turn local history into public history? In other words, how do you make sense of your neighborhood's, town's, or city's past, and how do you convey what you have learned to a broad audience? The Nearby History Series has been helping researchers grapple with these questions and others for nearly twenty years.

The first edition of Nearby History, published in 1982, served as an introduction to local history, geared toward individuals interested in researching the people, places, and events "close at hand" (x). It included an overview of the importance of studying local history, suggested the types of sources to consult, and recommended methods of analysis that could help connect the local to regional, national, or even international trends. A series-the Nearby History series-developed with five installments published by the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) between 1986 and 1990 and still in print: Ronald Butchart, Local Schools; Barbara Howe, et. al., Houses and Homes; Gerald Danzer, Public Places; James P. Wind, Places of Worship; and K. Austin Kerr, et. al., Local Businesses. Each book followed the format established in Nearby History. Each started with the importance of studying the topic, continued with suggestions for defining the project, explained where to find sources specific to the topic, described the types of sources to consult (primary and secondary materials as well as oral, photographic, and artifactual evidence), and concluded with a discussion of how to interpret the evidence and how to use it to produce articles, exhibits, and even audio-visual presentations. Well-chosen examples helped readers see how others used evidence, and bibliographic essays of suggested readings led readers to other sources. This consistency in the Nearby History series made it easy for untrained historians to quickly learn how to accomplish what they wanted to do without being overwhelmed by the process. The series as a whole has been valuable in demonstrating how local historians can place narrow topics into the broader historical context, that is, into the concentric or overlapping circles that Kyvig and Marty discuss in the introductory volume. The books point amateur local historians, or historians unfamiliar with the wealth of local history resources, in directions that allow them to pursue the larger how and why questions, and thereby write analytical and interpretive local histories rather than simple accounts of past events.

Nearby History, the second edition, retains the goals established in the first edition and the series-to make local history research thorough and meaningful. And it follows the format of the series-if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Readers of the first edition might be disappointed if they seek major revisions. The authors decided on a minimalist approach, confident in the feedback from readers that praised Nearby History for being useful and stimulating.

So, what does the second edition offer that the first did not? Kyvig and Marty recognized the need to incorporate the findings from nearly two decades of work by local historians into their bibliographic sources. This includes important new material related to oral history, motion pictures, and material culture as evidence, and new electronic resources published as CDs and on the Internet. The authors modified the chapters to incorporate the new information as appropriate, and they included publications of note produced between 1982 and 2000 in the "Notes and Future Reading" sections at the end of each chapter. Many of the photographs are new to the second edition, chosen to emphasize the importance of twentieth century events. All images include more complete citations.

The spectacular growth of the Internet as a medium for distributing raw data prompted the greatest number of revisions. Examples include the Census Bureau's website, on-line genealogical search engines such as the Church of Latter Day Saints' www.familysearch.org, and on-line catalogues and virtual exhibits maintained by the Library of Congress and the National Archives and Records Commission. It is impossible to remain current with Internet locations and content, but Kyvig and Marty provide an appendix that includes major search engines and links to organizations, granting agencies, and keepers of national collections, resources that should remain current throughout the shelf-life of this edition. Only Kyvig and Marty's volume and volume five, Local Businesses: Exploring their History offer updated bibliographic material.