For over thirty years, Carol Kammen’s On Doing Local History has been a valuable guide to professional and “amateur” historians alike. First published in 1986, revised in 2003, this book offers not only discussion of practical matters, but also a deeper reflection on local, public history, what it means, and why it is done. It is used in classrooms and found on the shelves of local historians across the U.S.
The third edition features:
Updates to chapters that focus on the current concerns and situation of local historians
A new chapter on how the field of history cooperates with other arts
A new chapter on writing a congregational history
Updated references
With the same passion (and now even more experience) that drove her to write the first edition, Kammen has brought her seminal work into today’s context for the next generation of local historians. The new edition ensures that this classic will continue to move anyone interested in public history towards a better understanding of why they do what they do and how it benefits their communities.
Carol Kammen has been writing about doing local history for many years. The first edition of this book came out in 1985; this edition is greatly pruned and expanded. She has edited The Encyclopedia of Local History (two editions) for Alta Mira Press and AASLH and has written editorials for History News since 1995. In addition she has written a history of her county, of the City in which she lives, and Cornell: Glorious to View (2003) and Part & Apart: The African American Experience at Cornell, 1865-1945 (2008) and edited First Person Cornell: Student’s Letters, Diaries, Email and Blogs (2006). She has also written two-dozen dramatic presentations using local history, including Between the Lines, Peaches and Bird, The Language of War and others and writes a history column for her local newspaper. She lives in Ithaca, New York, previously taught at Cornell University, and serves as the Tompkins County Historian.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Dwight Pitcaithley
Introduction
Chapter 1:Local History’s Past Coda to Chapter 1: Revising What is Held as True
Chapter 2: Thinking about Local History Coda to Chapter 2: Censorship
Chapter 3: The Subjects of Local History Coda to Chapter 3: Journalists and Historians
Chapter 4: Clio and Her Sisters
Chapter 5: How to Write a Congregational History
Chapter 6: Researching Local History Coda to Chapter 6: When Being Right is not Good Enough
Chapter 7: Giving Back Coda to Chapter 7: The Great Document Exchange
Chapter 8: The Local Historian Coda to Chapter 8: Adult Local History Workshops
Chapter 9: The Past that was Yesterday Coda to Chapter 9: One Last Thing
About the Author
Index
What People are Saying About This
Philip V. Scarpino
Carol Kammen is among the most creative, versatile, and insightful local historians practicing in the United States today. This excellent and highly readable revision of On Doing Local History adds to her reputation as a scholar and teacher of local history. It speaks easily to multiple audiences; it ranges broadly and boldly, integrating theory and historiography and method with practical, hands-on examples and advice. Kammen introduces her readers to the excitement and varieties of local history. She writes from experience about being a historian, doing history, and using history in a way that is clear, engaging, and interesting. On Doing Local History is sensitive to the interplay between memory and place in explaining and communicating local history. Like really good local history, it is accessible, highlights the specifics, and sets its subject matter in a broader context.
Dwight T. Pitcaithley
On Doing Local History is back and it's better than ever. While dedicated to the craft of presenting local history, On Doing is a book about the craft of history and should be required reading for all who consider themselves historians, local and otherwise. Kammen writes with sagacity, sensitivity, and perspective. From her philosophical reflections about the discipline of history to her learned advice on researching local history, Kammen is a delight and an inspiration.
