(Family Features) Learning more about events from the past can help make sense of current circumstances and inform the future. Equipping yourself with historical knowledge gives you the ability to understand how contemporary society came to be.
By taking advantage of the wealth of resources available today, you can take a deeper dive into past events and learn how they affected individuals and larger groups alike, such as U.S. military members.
Head to Your Local Library
If you haven’t spent much time in a library, you may be surprised by the wealth of information available. You can find letters and other documents – whether in physical copies or accessible via online records with a library card – that provide a first-hand perspective of the historical period or event you’re exploring. In addition, libraries often offer access to databases and other information that is not always readily available from basic online searches.
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Research Trusted Sources Online
To complement what you find in the library, you can also explore a wide range of information online. The key is to read critically and evaluate your sources, as not everything you find online is reliable or true. However, resources curated by trusted organizations can offer deep insight into the past.
For example, the Library of Congress Veterans History Project collects and preserves the firsthand remembrances of U.S. military veterans and makes them accessible for future generations to better understand veterans’ service and sacrifice. Through its website, you can watch oral history interviews and comb through original manuscript material, such as memoirs, letters, diaries and artwork, as well as original photographs.
Interact with Older Adults
Reading and watching accounts of historical activities gives you valuable insight, but speaking directly with those who lived through notable periods of American history can also illuminate what it meant to experience those times. Reminiscing and recounting memories of the past can serve as a bonding experience while giving you a more personal, emotional connection to facts you might not uncover elsewhere.
Encourage Engaging School Curriculum
If you’re a teacher or leading a lifelong learning course, you can use the Library of Congress Veterans History Project as a resource to support your efforts.
Jonathan Bickel, an English teacher in Pennsylvania, has made veteran history a focus in his classroom since 2009. He taps into the large pool of personal accounts available through the collection to support his lessons. He also uses the project as a model in the classroom, challenging high school students to record an interview with a local person or relative who is a veteran and then present their work to the school as a multimedia project. As an example to his students, Bickel interviewed and submitted his father’s World War II story.
Teachers interested in creating a history curriculum that honors veterans can access research guides that can provide a curated starting point for exploring the collections. To find the wealth of personal stories from veterans, visit loc.gov/vets.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock (senior man and woman looking at photo album)
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