Class Thoughts on Local History

First off: nice job on the posts everyone. From what you said to how you said it—the tone, style, and creativity you showed—I had the strong sense that you all enjoyed writing this one. Maybe I’m wrong and you bluff well but, if so, don’t tell me: leave me to my illusions.

Because you each had very distinctive ideas and topics, it’s difficult to generalize about your responses. I suppose I could say that I noticed two basic options in your approaches. On the one hand, some felt pulled toward broader topics like the history of a “hometown” or an entire graduating class, and in each case you described how important it would be to gather a range of objective information (demographic, statistical, surveys, etc.). You also wisely pointed out how difficult it is to interpret and present that information objectively. On the other hand, some of you focused on specific features of an otherwise larger topic, for example, a single building (the field house), or one aspect of a family (its ability to make music but choose lousy names for bands) or, as Meghan kind of discovered as she wrote, the role of illness and health within a community. No less information is needed to address these topics, but they seem to be more “forgiving” when it comes to issues of pure objectivity.

Not surprising, of course, is the conclusion that good history—local or otherwise—needs both approaches to be informed, convincing, and interesting. I confess that my work with the class last fall got me interested in these kinds of local studies. What I discovered as we worked out the Washington Neighborhood display was how important it became to provide a context for what we planned to present. Creating a display about the Bee Branch waterway, for instance, only seemed interesting and important when we showed images of how often the neighborhood had flooded. And then, when we thought we had the connection down, we were really surprised to talk with former residents who said that they really didn’t mind the flooding that much—that everyone came out of their houses and watched the kids play in the water (it was just rainwater, not sewage). Suddenly, the flooding became evidence of community building. We had to decide how to incorporate those local reflections into what we presented.

From what all of you wrote, I think that class tomorrow will go very well. We will meet in the Center for Dubuque History (library basement) and will hear from the Director, Mike Gibson. I plan to get there early and pull all of the information I can find on your churches—I don’t know how much there will be. But during the course of the evening we’ll hear about resources in the Center that can help us establish that “context” for what we hope to say about each parish or congregation. Old photos, maps, microfilm of the Telegraph Herald—all can provide information about what’s happening locally, statewide, or even nationally when we want to highlight a certain event in the history of a neighborhood church.

Looking forward to seeing you soon. Thanks. Jw