Answer to Question #265949 in History for Princess

Question

Why is writing of local history important?

Answer 1

Local history involves two elements: Place and People. The first, "Place", means a specific bit of territory, whether a county within a state, a district within a county, a neighborhood, or one's own back yard. Without "People", we're not speaking of Local History; rather, we're discussing Local Geography only.

Writing a local history gives you the opportunity to create a picture of what a village, town or region was like in the past by telling the stories of the people who lived and worked there but there are also many other aspects you can focus on. For example, specific families, the wider community, local events and traditions, entertainment, buildings, churches, monuments, historical sites, industry, organizations, schools, churches, occupations, landscape and so on. Local history also reflects the reality that our lives are shaped by particular places and that our physical place in the world is a major determinant to how our lives are lived.

Involving students in local history helps them to learn to analyze their place in larger events. Writing of local history attempts to reconstruct the history of a place to understand how the way people lived connects to the community’s present and future. Writing of local history is important because our knowledge of the traditions, stories, and civic commemorations from the community members before us strengthen our connections and transforms our city into a community.