Ohio History Journal

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RESEARCH IN STATE HISTORY: ITS

RESEARCH IN STATE HISTORY: ITS

PROBLEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES*

 

By

DR. ASA EARL MARTIN

 

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

The purpose of my paper is to discuss some of the

problems connected with state history. I assume that

my audience is composed of those who have more than

a passing interest in this topic and that they are pri-

marily concerned with the questions which history teach-

ers, historical writers, and the local historical societies

face every day. For that reason I have made no effort

to select dramatic incidents with which to entertain

you or to upset the conventional attitude toward im-

portant historical events and characters.

I shall content myself with an attempt, first, to dis-

cuss some of the causes of the decline, in recent years,

of interest in local history and to suggest some ways

by which this tendency can be counteracted; second, to

point out a few of the possibilities for research work

in state and local history; third, to enumerate some of

the problems with which the research worker in state

history must contend; and fourth, to emphasize the

need for a greater degree of coordination in research

work to prevent duplication and the loss of time, effort,

and money.

* An address delivered at the annual meeting of the Ohio State Arch-

aeological and Historical Society, April 30, 1931.

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