> I really didn't understand what you were saying about your work,
Ras, although I'm very interested . . . you're working on your
Master's now, right? And it reminds me of one of the best genealogists
in one of my lines saying that the family's history is rich enough
without adding myth (regarding another Native American possible
ancestor that we can't prove but anectodally). But it sounds like
you're doing something beyond that.
> Yes, I'm a record collector. Fact checker. Archivist. Know where
family collections are held. Have years and many more miles more work
to do.
> But the mythos side is intriguing. Please share.
>
In short what I do is write history curriculum (predominately for
homeschooling use tied to museums) using non-traditional sources -
basically material history- such as family legends. The goal is to
make history relevant rather than a "great man - great events"
approach. Another person in my field described it this way - a
genealogist avoids the brier patches of history because he looses the
focus (he wants a proven family line), material historians dive into
the brier patch because thats where history is made. So the family
oral history is my major primary source material.
To most people its about as exciting as writing a thesis about a coke
can. To our little crazy club its as exciting as writing history using
a coke can.
Two great books (sort of the primers and bibles for how we research):
Understanding Material Culture
In Small Things Forgotten: An Archaeology of Early American Life
The difference in material culture and material history is that we do
not study prehistorical or focus on cultural ramifications. We only
deal in historical significance. Sometimes it makes it hard to drive
down the street because the layers of history are everywhere.
My personal favorite writer is Kerry Segrave, he represents the true
craziness of our line of thought.
At any rate thats what I do if you ever want to email me feel free...
that may be a better forum than me boring the pants off of people like
I do at parties asking 1000 questions then running out to my car to
take notes.
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