COMMUNITY PORTRAITS

CRITERION #3

ASSIGNMENT #3B

GATHERING INFO ON

EARLY AND MIDDLE PERIODS OF COMMUNITY HISTORY

DUE IN SESSION #9

This is the second assignment toward preparing a present-oriented historical portrait of your chosen community. Keep in mind that your goal is to tell the story of how the community became the way it is now -- socially, physically and economically. Some facts and events from the past will be relevant for understanding how the community has become the way it is today; other facts and events will not be relevant. So part of what you will be doing is deciding which information to include in your portrait and which not to include. You have to be especially selective about using material about things that happened long ago: always ask yourself whether those events had lasting impacts up to the present.

This assignment is focused on gathering information about the early history of your community -- the period up to about the mddle of the 19^th century -- and the middle period of history -- from about the middle of the 19^th century up to about the middle of the 20^th century. The reason for dividing the periods in this way is because in the middle of the 19^th century most communities (cities, towns and neighborhoods) in Massachusetts began undergoing lots of long-lasting changes in their population, housing and economies.

As with the previous assignment, this Competency Assignment involves becoming familiar with places and sources of information on the history of a community and assembling overview historical data.

Early Period:

For the period up to the middle of the 1800s, you need to be focused on figuring out just a few major kinds of things that would help to understand the community today. The following are some of the kinds of questions that might be appropriate to try to answer about that early period. Keep in mind that some of these questions may not apply to your community:

* Are there any natural features -- such as a river, a natural harbor, steep hills, natural resources such as iron ore -- that made a difference in why the community was established there? Are any of those natural features still important for the life and character of the community today?

* When was first permanent settlement of the area by non-Native people?

* Were there any early transportation routes, such as post roads, that help to explain why and when the community was established there? Are those roads still in existence today?

* Are there many houses, churches, other buildings, built before the middle of the 19^th century that are still standing? If so, are they mostly concentrated in certain parts of the community and recognized still for their historical significance? Or are they scattered around the community?

* Were there any major economic activities -- other than farming -- that were important for the community? Are any of these activities still being done in the community?

Middle Period:

During the period of about 100 years from the middle of the 1800s to the middle of the 1900s most communities underwent a lot of changes. Your task is to try to figure out which were the most significant and long-lasting. The following are some of the kinds of questions you should be trying to answer for this period. Remember, you don't need to answer all of these questions:

* In the middle and later 19^th century did big changes in transportation technology have much impact on the community? Are any of those transportation routes still in use? Were some perhaps abandoned for a while, but more recently restored?

* In the middle and later 19^th century did new industries and any other major activities become established in the community? Are any of those industries still active in the community today? If not, are any of the buildings still there but being reused in some way?

* In the middle and later 19^th century did many people move into the community? If so, why did they arrive? Where did they come from? Are many of their descendents still in the community, or have they mostly moved on to other places?

* In the middle and later 19^th century did much new housing get built in the community? If so, is much of it still there today? If still there, what kind of housing is it -- factory tenements, Victorian buildings, 3-deckers, other?

* In the first part of the 20^th century, did another new transportation technology have much impact on the community?

* In the first part of the 20^th century, did any of the older industries close down or move out? Did new industries and any other major economic activities become established in the community, or did the economy of the community decline, or did it become a "bedroom" community with workers commuting to jobs elsewhere?

* In the first part of the 20^th century did many people move into the community? If so, why did they arrive? Where did they come from? Are many of their descendents still in the community, or have they mostly moved on to other places? Did many people move out of the community during this period? If so, why did they leave?

* In the first part of the 20^th century did much new housing get built in the community? If so, is much of it still there today? If still there, what kind of housing is it -- apartment buildings, single-family homes, other?

* Were there any major disasters or political struggles during the second half of the 19^th century and first half of the 20^th century that changed the community in significant and lasting ways?

As with the previous assignment, you are not yet expected actually to give full answers to any of these questions. Rather, you should use the questions to guide your search for information that will help you to answer questions like these.

For this assignment, the steps are basically the same as the previous assignment, but some of the places will be different, and most of the sources will be different.

1. Prepare a list of places you can think of and find out about which might have documents, materials or first-hand knowledge about what has happened in the community during the early and middle periods. Some may be the very same places as for the previous assignment. For example, your local public library and the Boston Public Library are likely to be good places. Your local historical society and historical commission are likely to be useful for this assignment. Also, the Massachusetts Archives (here on Columbia Point, just across from the campus) may be a useful site (727-2816).

2.. Visit at least one new place that you did not visit for Assignment #12. For each place you visit, find out what kinds of materials or information they have. Find out how the sources are arranged or catalogued and how you can get access to the information. For each place you visit, identify several kinds of sources available (books, city or town annual reports, pamphlets, newspaper and magazine articles, maps, etc.), and make a preliminary list of likely sources you might use for answering the kinds of questions above.

3. From preliminary bibliography to working bibliography. Locate and list about 6-8 possible sources that you might use for answering questions about the early and middle period history (this is your "preliminary bibliography"). Then, based on quick preliminary reading, select about 4-5 that seem most useful as the source materials you can draw upon for doing your recent history (this is your "working bibliography"). Make xerox copies or take notes from the sources in your working bibliography. Make sure that you have all relevant bibliographic information for each source (e.g., author, title, date of publication, place of publication, publisher, volume #, pages).

4. Read critically the 4-5 sources in your working bibliography. This includes identifying and comprehending the authors' main ideas of theses; understanding relationships between main ideas and supporting details; writing summaries; evaluating the quality and usefulness of the sources; and selecting potentially relevant information that will enable you to answer your research questions about the early and middle period history of the community.