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Here is a how-to-do-it book for local historians, whether beginners or seasoned veterans. It leads the local historian through the major sources and suggests appropriate techniques for researching and writing the history of a nearby farm. It discusses the value of oral history and photographs, notes the importance of farm architecture, and evaluates the importance of technological change, among
other topics. This study also provides helpful suggestions for conducting research at libraries and state historical societies, as well as for writing the history of a farm. It will prove essential for all professional, as well as nonprofessional, historians. | | "… American Farms truly is a must for anyone with an interest in researching and
writing the history of a farm." -- Kansas History, Vol. 19 No. 4.
"Hurt's advice is sound and useful for novice and veteran alike, largely because of the emphasis he places on the need to contextualize local farm history." -- P. D. Travis, Texas Woman's University, Choice, May 1997.
"Aimed at those who seek to write farm or agricultural history, this book is actually useful for anyone who may long for expert guidance in pursuing a topic." -- P. D.
Travis, Texas Woman's University, Choice, May 1997.
"... should be a starting point for every amateur and local historian, whether or not he or she is writing about a farm. Beginning graduate students would also find many useful suggestions. Surely, however, it would be hard to imagine a writer on any subject in community history who would not find this book useful." -- Gilbert C. Fite, University of Georgia, Arkansas Historical Quarterly.
"Touting the value of
doing 'nearby history,' the series editors David E. Kyvig and Myron A. Marty aspire 'to empower people to function as historians themselves or evaluate what other historians might say and write about a personally important past.' Their goal is an admirable one, and American Farms will help local historians achieve it." -- Lu Ann Jones, East Carolina University, The Journal of American History, March 1998. |
