Description:

This course will combine some practical experience in doing local history with readings in the theory and practice of local and oral history. In the course of the semester, you will gain practice in using such local history sources as the University archives, county and city records, newspapers, oral history, and similar records. We will have special speakers to introduce you to these non-traditional research methods and I also hope to bring in one speaker on local architectural traditions. Part of our time will be spent out of the classroom, visiting important sites where local history is preserved and presented to the public. These visits will include such institutions as Wood County Museum, Fort Meigs, the Grand Rapids canal lock and mill, the Hayes Center, and Sauder Village.

Requirements:

(1) Research Paper: Our research for this term will focus on Bowling Green, the goal of the course to be preparation of a Timeline for Bowling Green in the decade of the 1890s. The completed timeline will become part of the on-going Crystal City Project, a web site devoted to BG in the 1890s. (Visit the site at

http ://emie.bgsu.edu'~wgranti 1 890slindex.html)

We will work in teams for the overall timeline project, but each individual will be assigned one or more (contiguous) years during the decade of the 1890s to prepare a record of the major events of that period. For an example of a national Timeline for the 90s similar in format to the one we will create for BG, point your web browser to:

http ://ernie.bgsu.edu/~wgrant' 1 890s/america.html

Papers will be relatively short (8-10 pages) and will consist of exploring in depth one of the events you post to the Timeline. The papers will be posted to the Crystal City web site that students have been contributing to over the past three years. For this reason, papers should include some illustrations. If you can produce your own HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) document, you are encouraged to do so; however, those who have not mastered HTML may submit conventional papers along with a copy on disk and halftones of illustrations (not Xerox copies). Your paper will be converted to HTML for posting to the site.

(2) Oral History: You will do a single oral history which may be on a topic of your choice. If you have trouble finding a topic, one will be assigned. Professional protocols--such as securing permission to publish the information from the interview--will be observed. One of your texts is a guide to doing oral history which will help you understand the techniques and protocols involved.

(3) Journal of Site Visits: You will keep ajournal of the various local history sites we visit in which you evaluate the goals of the institution, its effectiveness in conveying aspects of local history, and your assessment of the value of the facility to local historians or students of local history. These journals will be ~~field notes" which are not expected to be polishedinto formal papers. Do your journal while the experience is fresh (notes in the field are to be encouraged) and your memories unclouded.

(4) Classoom presentation: Your research paper will become the basis of a short classroom presentation.

Good, H.E., Black Swamp Farm. Ohio University Press

Ritchie, Don A., Doing Local History. Twayne

Kyvig, David E. and Myron A. Marty, Nearbv History: Exploring the Past Around You. American Association of State and Local History