One of the things that I like to do when I teach U.S. History survey courses (and I do all of the time) is to include local history. First of all, I myself like local history. I like learning how everything around me ended up looking like it does right now. I like seeing the layers of history through different architecture -- and the alterations to that architecture -- the types of trees, the local names, the layout of the roads, and the types of people who live there.
Second of all, local history is an excellent means of making history relevant to the students very quickly, especially if you can bring in pictures of familiar local spots as they appeared 30 or 40 or 50 years ago. I am hoping that this immediacy makes them more conscious of the history in the landscape around them, and therefore more interested in history 
beyond the semester of our course. I am hoping that they will continue to go to the museums that I insist that they visit as a part of their grade, and that they will be more conscious of preserving history. I hope for miracles, I know, but someone has to try and who else will that someone be by me?This past summer semester, I taught the s
econd half of the U.S. survey. This, as you may know, includes the New Deal; and, during the New Deal, the federal government experimented with "greenbelt" or "planned communities." One of those communities lies about five miles from our school; and, wonder of wonders, too, our school library actually had a book about that community, and that book was published SINCE 1960 (I really need to get together with the librarians about their history collections management plan, but that's another story for another time). As I started reading about this community, I wondered if any of the old 
greenbelt town still existed. A quick Google search turned up their museum's site, so I decided to go see the museum and if any of the old WPA project survived.
econd half of the U.S. survey. This, as you may know, includes the New Deal; and, during the New Deal, the federal government experimented with "greenbelt" or "planned communities." One of those communities lies about five miles from our school; and, wonder of wonders, too, our school library actually had a book about that community, and that book was published SINCE 1960 (I really need to get together with the librarians about their history collections management plan, but that's another story for another time). As I started reading about this community, I wondered if any of the old 
greenbelt town still existed. A quick Google search turned up their museum's site, so I decided to go see the museum and if any of the old WPA project survived. Back in Texas, I had a friend who had lived in this community. I vaguely remember him saying that it was a nice place to live, that he and his family had lived in a townhouse, and that the townhouse 
was on a court. Me, having little housing experience outside of the deathly bland suburbs where I grew up, immediately thought of a 1970s era townhome on a circle drive. He mentioned something about a co-op that made selling his home more difficult, which sounded a little odd, but didn't change my conception of the place.
Let me tell you: The historic area of this town is about as close as you can get to living history and still remain in your own time. Colonial Williamsburg it is not, but it does retain it's original buildings, landscaping, and character (and one or two residents), albeit 70 years later.
"Planned communities," in the New Deal, meant both words, not the fortress-like "gated communities" of today.
was on a court. Me, having little housing experience outside of the deathly bland suburbs where I grew up, immediately thought of a 1970s era townhome on a circle drive. He mentioned something about a co-op that made selling his home more difficult, which sounded a little odd, but didn't change my conception of the place.
Let me tell you: The historic area of this town is about as close as you can get to living history and still remain in your own time. Colonial Williamsburg it is not, but it does retain it's original buildings, landscaping, and character (and one or two residents), albeit 70 years later."Planned communities," in the New Deal, meant both words, not the fortress-like "gated communities" of today.
A clue to the reason that the original Greenbelt residents prohibited pets.Note: All historic images from Library of Congress, American Memory, site. All others taken by Clio Bluestocking.
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My pottery instructor's studio is at the Greenbelt Community Center. They always have a bazaar-like thing before Xmas. We should go :-)
Wow -- that place is beautiful! As a medievalist, I don't have the opportunity to think much about local history, but I can see how appealing it is through this post. Thanks -- I loved this little tour!
Whoa! This piece wasn't supposed to go up yet! I'm not done with it! C'est la vie!
O.K., I've tweaked the layout, but not the content, which was supposed to go on into a disquisition about race and gender and the limits of liberalism and its changes and blahblahblah. I'll save that for another time.
Vuboq, X-mas bazaar? I'm so there! Call me!
Squadratomagico, thank you! Perhaps if you were in Europe, medival history and local history would go together a bit more? At an Office Park University, not so much.
Actually, I used to not have much of an interest in local history because I grew up in new suburbs in a city that seemed prevent public history by tearing everything down every 30 years. In fact, "Local" and "History" were not two words that went together. They were an oxymoron. So, it was an acquired taste.
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