Making a theme local with primary sources

Historical societies and small museums are overlooked treasure troves of primary sources for local history and themes—letters, diaries, scrapbooks, photographs, local publications, ephemera, and more. All of these primary source documents and images can be used to teach a social history theme in a local context. These local institutions are usually thrilled to work with teachers to showcase their collections and the staff will know about local history and have primary sources that you didn’t even know existed! They may also be eager to work with your students on projects related to their collections.

Call or visit the archives of local universities’ archives, historical societies, community libraries, and area and regional museums. Discuss the themes that you are researching for the classroom. Ask for primary source recommendations from their collection.
If possible, take students on a field trip to an archive. Students gain insight into the process of historical research used by historians.

Below are a few local historical primary source treasures discovered at historical societies near my home in Kentucky. Most are related to the theme of travel and transportation.

Click on each of the following images for more information.

Hotel Advertising Cards, late 1800s — Hotel Advertising Cards, late 19th century. From Eastern Kentucky University Archives.

Estate inventory from Kentucky, 1815 — Estate inventory from Garrard County, Kentucky, 1815. Explore the records in your local court house.

Estate Inventory, Kentucky, 1802 — Estate Inventory, Garrard County, Kentucky, 1802

Kentucky Resort Advertisement, 1934 — Kentucky Resort Newspaper Advertisement, 1934

George & Doretta Brown Family, c. 1910, Pulaski County, Kentucky

Monticello to Burnside KY stagecoach, early 19th century. Photo from the Wayne County Historical Society, Monticello, Kentucky.

Train schedule from Lancaster, KY newspaper, 1908

1897 map of Lancaster, KY by Beers and Lanagan

Bill of sale for a slave, 1816, Garrard County, KY

This scrapbook of newspaper clippings and cartoons, created in the 1920s, belonged to Katherine Warford Wilson (1906 - 1991) of Kentucky. — This scrapbook of newspaper clippings and cartoons, created in the 1920s, belonged to Katherine Warford Wilson (1906 – 1991) of Kentucky.

Recipes are often clipped and pasted into scrapbooks. This is a page from recipe scrapbooks of Helen Brown Williams (1912-1998). — Recipes are often clipped and pasted into scrapbooks. This page is from the recipe scrapbooks of Helen Brown Williams (1912-1998) of Kentucky.

Page from the late 19th century scrapbook of French Tipton (1848-1900), Madison County, Kentucky newspaper editor, judge, and journalist. From the Eastern Kentucky University Archives.

About the header image: Sanborn Map of Lexington KY, 1896. Courtesy of Library of Congress.