On Doing Local History: Reflections on What Local Historians Do, Why, and What it Means

Since 1986, On Doing Local History has been an invaluable aid to local historians. Now Carol Kammen has completely updated and revised this classic to reflect more than fifteen years of experience working with local historians. She challenges all historians of the local to think about what they are doing and how they are doing it. She dispels the myth that amateur historians, who are frequent practitioners of local history, necessarily produce a history less rigorous or useful. For many years the author of a column in History News, Kammen's thoughtful, level-headed ideas and personable writing style will keep this book a classic for years to come.

This indispensable guide to 'doing' local history, first published in 1986, has been refreshed and updated, reflectiong changes in the field and insights the author has gleaned from her own experience. It is both a 'how-to' manual and a challenge for those pursuing local history in its many forms to think about what it is they do, and why. Historical society staff, teachers, students, academics, journalists, and anyone else who researches, writes, preserves, or enjoys local history can use this book. It is one of many worthwhile books, technical leaflets, and periodicals produced under the auspices of the American Association for State and Local History.--James E. Potter "Nebraska History, Vol. 83 Nos. 3 & 4 Fall/Winter 2002 "

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.--Dwight T. Pitcaithley, Chief Historian, National Park Service

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.--Philip V. Scarpino, Indiana University/Purdue University, Indianapolis

On Doing Local History is an indispensable resource for organizations and individuals dedicated to recording and publishing local stories. By following Kammen's advice, local chroniclers can enhance the credibility of their works and provide resources for future generations of researchers.--Kevin Britz, The High Desert Museum, Bend, Oregon "Oregon Historical Quarterly "

Good, solid, balanced primer on how to begin to do local history.--Richard Kastl, Binghamton University "Vernacular Architecure Newsletter "

Few books have become classics in their field, but such has been the case for Carol Kammen's On Doing Local History...[This] second edition...is a practical guide to the research and writing of history. Kammen's style is easy to read, and the content is thought provoking. The book should be a catalyst for increased study in local history...[a] necessary guide for public historians and anyone involved with local histories.--Debra A. Blake, Office of Archives and History "North Carolina Historical Review, Vol. Lxxx, No. 3, July '03 "

Acknowledged as a classic...this revised edition is relevant to a global audience as it challenges us to think about what local history is, how we explore it and for what purpose...all local historical societies who run volunteer museums should acquire and read it.--Thomas Graham, Executive Officer, Museum of the Riverina, Wagga Wagga "Museums Australia Magazine, Feb. 2004 "

On Doing Local History validates the work local historians do, provides intellectual and historical context, and supplies a soothing balm to anyone who has been knocked back for a grant or dismissed as an 'amateur' (in the pejorative sense of the word). It will also be handy for preparing talks to classes or local history societies and, I hope, funding agencies....a lot of ground to cover, but Kammen does it quickly and skillfully, and she also manages to step beyond a parochial or even a national approach. I came away from the book feeling that I had learned not only something about her country and American historiography, but had also been exposed to a judicious sampling of British and French historiography (the Leicester School, for example, and Marc Bloch. Her parish-pump has connected with the cosmos....a fine and very useful work.--Gavin McLean, Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Wellington, New Zealand "The Public Historian, Spring 2004, Vol.26, Number 2 "

The confessions of local historians too often take on the air of apologias or special pleadings for why their works are important. It is more useful, perhaps, to reclaim the prominent place that local history has held in American letters since the birth of the republic and to avoid the common fallacy of speaking about local and national histories in dichotomous terms. Local history holds great value for many different audiences, each of which brings its own expectations, assumptions, and interests to the task of "doing" local history. No single set of concerns or approaches defines local history as a field of historical inquiry. It would be as presumptuous as it would be incomplete to fashion a single definition that would serve all practitioners of local history. Local history is a big tent-the democratic province of both amateurs and professionals-and local historians are as diverse as their audiences. No one has a better appreciation or understanding of those realities than Carol Kammen, and certainly there is no one with more authority to speak of them. . . . [H]ow often are local historians gently, engagingly, and effectively challenged to think about what they do and why and how they do it? The second and revised edition of Carol Kammen's On Doing Local History, like the first edition, does that by continuing to make us think. New materials have been added without sacrificing what is timeless and true in the materials carried forward from the first edition. The author's revisions reflect changes that have occurred in the field of history since the publication of the original edition, and offer thoughtful perspectives on the themes, topics, approaches, and concerns of local historians past and present. On Doing Local History chronicles the history of local history in the United States, deconstructs the processes by which one generation revises what has been previously held true about the past, and provides concrete examples of how local history is actually done. This book is certainly pr--Terry A. Barnhart, (History Department, Eastern Illinois University) "From The Foreword "