Approach Local Publications With Skepticism

Individuals using local publications as a resource

 must sift through the content critically.

This is the first post, in a series, exploring the challenges in using local publications to research your community.

A few years ago a colleague shared the resources their grade level used to study local community history. The resources were local periodicals published between 1909 and 2000, spanning the community’s development timeline, and commemorating historical events. Their purposes were to positively highlight the community. To foster a celebratory tone their authors intentionally  determined the scope and depth of the content. It is therefore problematic to rely solely on these types of periodicals to build historical context as they construct a limited perspective of events. Individuals using local publications as a resource must sift through the content critically.

Consider this…
Using local publications to reveal untold community stories requires some critical reflection.  Knowledge seekers need to consider whether the publication is an overview of a historical era, a commemoration of a specific event, or a celebration of a community milestone, such as an anniversary. 

 Generally, the purpose of a publication determines the narrative’s tones and perspective. Local publications highlight their community with the deliberate inclusion or omission of certain information. Researchers need to critique  whether contradictory perspectives and/or facts are present or omitted from the publication, and whether the author’s research approach included a balance between contradictory perspectives and/or facts.  Further research is likely needed to discover divergent perspectives and to counterbalance any entrenched perspectives. Accessing local resources, like the public library, historical societies, and community groups, are places to begin  your counter-perspective research. 

This article is part 1,  in a series of posts, which explores the challenges of using local publications to research your community. Subsequent posts to explore the process used to correct and rebuild the historical context in which to view the experiences of early African Americans residents of Somerville, New Jersey.

Approach Local Publications With Skepticism Part 2: 

Publication analysis of Somerville As it Really Is (1909)

        Follow me on 

        Medium @jonesevansdavie

        Facebook  At Home with History

        Instagram at.home.with.history/

      

Part 3:

History at Home: Stories About Somerville. Havens, Jessie (2000). https://drive.google.com/file/d/11i0l0FchZnX44tK7I4rC4QpO6Mdmw1p_/view.