Master Local Historians

Calling all history lovers! The East Tennessee Historical Society, in collaboration with the American Association for State and Local History and Humanities Tennessee, invites you to participate in a new pilot program called Master Local Historians. If you enjoy learning, thinking, discussing, reading, and writing about history then this program is for you!

Master Local Historians provides an opportunity to learn about the craft of the historian. What is historical thinking, and why does it matter? What sources are available to help advance your research? How do you care for artifacts and photographs in your own personal collection? With guidance from history professionals, Master Local Historians teaches how historians approach questions about the past and provides the tools to pursue a personally meaningful history project.

The East Tennessee Historical Society is the first in the nation to pilot the Master Local Historians program. Individuals who register for the course will participate in three, 3-hour sessions beginning April 9, 2018. Each session will take on a different topic with the goal of preparing you to begin your investigation of local history:  

· 5:30-8:30 p.m., Monday, April 9: “The Power of Historical Thinking”

o   Understand historical thinking
o   Understand the relevance of good local history
o   Learn how to evaluate interpretive products of local history
o   Grasp the vocabulary, skills, and process of structuring a local history project
o   Share information about local history projects on which you already may be working

· 5:30-8:30 p.m., Monday, April 16: “Source and Resources”

o   Learn about the research assets at online and brick-and-mortar libraries and archives, and meet key staff at each
o   Learn how to search for secondary and primary sources at those sites
o   Learn how to get started with genealogy and family history research
o   Match a research strategy to a research question
o   Differentiate secondary from primary sources
o   Identify evidence in sources
o   Evaluate conflicts among evidence, in primary resources

· 5:30-8:30 p.m., Monday, April 23: “Collections: Their Care and Meaning”

o   Understand a public, curated collection
o   Identify personal collections
o   Gain an introductory understanding of collections care
o   Understand that artifacts, costumes, correspondence, books, etc., are primary sources with   meaning

Session will be interactive and discussion-based, providing the chance to not only learn from experts but float ideas, grapple with tricky questions, and learn the historian’s craft by doing.

If you are interested in participating in the Master Local Historians pilot, please contact the East Tennessee Historical Society. The pilot program is free, but registration is required by calling (865) 215-8825 or emailing isbell@eastTNhistory.org. Participation will be limited to 30 individuals. Participants may bring their own dinner/snacks or order a boxed dinner (for a fee) when registering.

Master Local Historians is a new program from the American Association for State and Local History, supported by grant funding from Humanities Tennessee and operated in partnership with the East Tennessee Historical Society.