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The Three R's (of history education). readin'?ritin'research. Just like in the days of a one-room school house, when a teacher tried hard to make sure her pupils learned readin', ?ritin' and ?rithmetic? there are three similar components of an education in history. In order to write about a speci
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1. Writing History (and teaching history):The Three-Legged Stool Approach
2. The Three Rs(of history education) readin
ritin
research
3. A recipe for writing good history (incl. historic fiction, biographies, short stories, family histories, museum tour guides, and scholarly monograms) Like a cook preparing a savory dish,
a writer must make use of
the three is
Inspiration
Ingredients (Information)
Imagination
4. Inspiration Inspiration for historians can come from many sources, including
a batch of old letters
a journal written by an ancestor
an unbelievable family story
a legendary or heroic deed
an unsolved mystery
curiosity about why certain people acted a certain way
5. Ingredients (Information) Primary source documents journals, letters, newspaper clippings, oral histories, court documents, marriage certificates, etc.
Secondary sources local histories, text books, dissertations, Wikipedia, other encyclopedias, family histories, internet data bases (Ancestry.com), movies and videos,
Other (well talk about this more)
6. Imagination It takes imagination
to produce a setting the sounds, smells, weather, and landscape (e.g. the battlefield, on the evening Stonewall Jackson was shot)
to create well-rounded characters, speech patterns, clothing, beliefs, everyday occupations, etc. (e.g. wife, children, neighbors, and slaves in Patrick Henrys household)
to weave these characters into a web of relationships, and their actions into a plotencouraging the reader to feel suspense, excitement, and empathy (e.g. Boo Radley, in To Kill A Mockingbird)
7. Teaching History Through Literature(reading both fiction and non-fiction) Bud Robertsons biography of Stonewall Jackson
Anne Rinaldi, Or Give me Death, about Patrick Henrys family
Mark Twains Huckleberry Finn
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Cold Mountain, by Charles Frasier
Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott
The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Follow the River, by James Alexander Thom
8. About non-fiction Examples of not-so-good history
Trans-Alleghany Pioneers, by John Hale (written in 1884 perfect example the romantic period in regional history)
A Girls Life in Virginia, by Letitia Burwell (about the good ole days on the plantation)
Suggest other examples
9. Research the indirect method While looking for information about Southwest Virginia in the 1770s and 80s, with an interest in William Ingles, Andrew Lewis, William Preston, etc., I discovered:
Travels in North America, by the Marquis de Chastellux, with delightful descriptions of Natural Bridge, Monticello, etc.
Cradle of America, by Peter Wallenstein
William Fleming, Patriot, by Clare White
The Transformation of Virginia 1740-1790, by Rhys Isaac
10. The amazing world of internet research the Pennsylvania Gazettes (from about 1730-1790) are all digitized, and in a searchable database. Same is true of the Virginia Gazettes
The Chalkley Chronicles (records of the Augusta County Court House) are all available online. It is possible to search for the names of early settlers, many of whom showed up in a court record in the early 1750s, but then disappeared during the French and Indian WarsWhere did they go?
Genealogy data bases (Ancestry.com, etc.) offer thrilling access to POSSIBLE family connectionsbut it gets overwhelming. It is a tool that requires practice and caution
11. Examples of Writing (Do they meet our three legged-stool criteria?) Stonewall Jackson, by James L. Robertson
Cold Mountain, by Charles Frasier
Or Give Me Death, by Anne Rinaldi
Mr. Roosevelts Steamboat, by Mary Helen Dohan
If Trouble Dont Kill Me, by Ralph Berrier
Roanoke, Virginia, 1882-1912: Magic City of the New South, by Rand Dotson
Others?
12. Three-legged Stool A Summary If you are writing a short story, novel, or family historytry to do the work of an historian by:
reading
researching
and then writing, carefully incorporating the historical context
When writing your narrative, try to make sure it combines
imagination (breathing life into the assembled facts)
inspiration (having suspense, drama, curiosity)
information (carefully gathered from reliable sources)
When in doubt, go back to a classic (like Huckleberry Finn) for inspirationand that should help you keep your balance!