House histories are really interesting.  We have one for our house, built in 1869, and you learn a lot from delving.

~Nurture your empathy~





> On Jun 30, 2015, at 11:43 AM, Leland Ness <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> That is an excellent point.
> 
> Genealogy will not always work for US history courses.  Some students will be recent immigrants, while others may have environments at home that will cause them to resist family research.  For such students "micro-history" may well be a suitable substitute.  Research your house, if it is an old one. If not, find another house that looks old and cool that you pass by, or perhaps even a commercial building, and research that.  They can find the names of owners and root around in the census records and online newspaper archives and try to piece together their stories.
> 
> Of course, that is easier as the dates of course coverage get more recent. Finding houses from 1900 or 1920 is not that hard.  But if you need to find one from the 18th century, then the pickings get pretty slim in many areas. Perhaps the history of a road or street?
> 
> Anyway, I am a big believer in that sort of "micro-history".
> 
> Lee Ness
> Town of Potomac (VA) Historical Assn.
> 
> -----Original Message----- From: Liana Arias
> Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2015 8:44 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] VA-HIST Digest - 26 Jun 2015 to 29 Jun 2015 (#2015-78)
> 
> As a foreigner who bought a very old house in Roanoke Virginia and decided
> to follow the link of the families in my house back in time (to the 1740's!)
> I can assure you that it was surprisingly rewarding and it helped me learn
> so much about the local history and customs as well as the history of those
> countries my homeowners left and their movements in the US following
> regional happenings. History, as it was mentioned below, stopped being a
> series of dates and names and became something more interesting even that tv
> sagas sometimes are because it was real, pertinent and interesting. It
> allowed me to have a logical, linear understanding of history over time that
> many, many years of studying history in Spanish schools could not
> accomplish.   As you can see, it does not have to even be personal genealogy
> either.If you can develop a link your students can understand between

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