Describes an oral history project to help students understand the narrative nature of history. Explains that the project focuses on "the Big Muskie" earth-moving machine and strip mining in southeastern Ohio. Explores the different stages of the classroom project. (CMK)

Interviews Irene Huschak, a computer teacher at Altoona Area High School in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Explains "A Digital Journey to Altoona's Past," a project which brings the history of Blair County, Pennsylvania alive for young readers by making them the main characters of historically accurate stories about the area's past. Discusses the…

Discusses a collaboration among an educator, a historical archaeologist, and a historian in order to create a local history curriculum that focuses on the life of African Americans on a Texas farm. Discusses how the curriculum was actually developed focusing on the role of the three team members. (CMK)

Provides a history of debate concerning issue of teaching Kansas state history in public schools as mandated by law. Studies show the failure to comply was a result of nonavailability of textbooks and lack of teacher preparation. Contends that State Department of Education did not support the law because state history is not taught in many Kansas…

Uses John Sutter's letters to illustrate the complex local forces affecting Nisenan Indians in post Gold Rush California: tribal disintegration, the lure of wage labor in town, racism, Sutter's designs to keep Indians as peons, and a compliant Indian superintendent who agreed to remove "troublesome" Indians. Contains 50 references. (SV)

Addresses three commonly cited justifications for historical study in considering the value of local history. Speaks to the idea that ignorance of the past condemns persons to the same mistakes, that history offers moral guidance, and that history should be studied for its own essence. Discusses the intrinsic and practical values of history. (KO)

Describes a failed attempt to develop a local history project within a high school American history course. Outlines a new enrichment course in which students work with primary source materials to produce a local history publication. (SV)

A former teacher reminisces about her teaching experiences during the 1920s in a rural school along the Aroostook River in Wade, Maine. Each year, when the boat carrying the cook for loggers upriver arrived, she and her students went aboard and received a special treat of warm molasses cake. (LP)

The author discusses the history of the Grange movement and reminisces about her experiences at the Castle Hill Grange in rural Maine during the depression. Granges were organizations established during the 1800s to enhance the educational and social growth of farmers, preserve the unity of rural families, and promote moral values. (LP)

Recommends the use of cemeteries as the focus of student research in secondary social studies. Presents methods for initiating such a project and guidance for appropriate student behavior. Includes a list of suggested activities for cemetery studies. (CFR)

Discusses the educational benefits of using visual materials as historical sources. Outlines steps for analyzing historical photographs. Applies these steps to two sample lessons about sugar-cane syrup making in Florida and dealing with migrant workers in Florida during the Depression. (RW)

Valley Quest is an intertown treasure hunt in which schoolchildren or community groups create maps of their towns' special places to exchange with people in nearby communities. Aiming to strengthen connections to community, it is also a year-long curriculum integrating local history, mapping skills, interviews with community elders, poetry…

Discusses the pottery revival in the village of Juan Mata Ortiz that is located in Chihuahua, Mexico. Contends that the revival was inspired by the efforts and experimentation of Juan Quezada who rediscovered the materials and techniques necessary to reproduce the Casas Grandes style polychrome pottery. (CMK)

Focuses on the reconstruction of the San Luis de Talimali, which was among the largest and most important missions in Spanish Florida with the Apalachee Indians as their parishioners. Describes the various structures found at San Luis: (1) the council house; (2) the chief's house; and (3) the church. (CMK)

Discusses David Hurst Thomas' archaeological work on the Spanish borderlands, which integrates field archaeology and documentary history. Focuses on locating and studying the Santa Catalina de Guale. Addresses his project on the Pueblo San Marcos that will further test his ideas about the Spanish mission period. (CMK)