Why Local History?

From the naming of this blog you get an idea as to  why I have launched it.     This is a blog about “place.”   To get to know the place, locals learn of  the life and times of individual people, and about businesses, groups, churches and organizations. We also look at particular places and objects (like the stove) to see  how they fit with the history of the place.  Why bother to do that? For me one reason is that study of local history is an excellent cure for boredom.  But a second reason is that those who learn may also become those who care about the welfare of the place.

David Orr argues that for a community to thrive  people need to have an active understanding of place, an “intentional involvement” with the  place where they live.  David W. Orr,  Ecological Literacy: Education and the Transition to a Postmodern World, p. 130  (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press 1992). Attending to place is  "good inhabitance"  which  requires "detailed knowledge of a place ... and a sense of care and rootedness."  P. 130.     Orr compares good inhabitance with mere residency which requires only "cash and a map."  P. 130.   Some people achieve a deep connection with a place, while others, and this includes long 
time residents,  merely pass through.  P. 130.  People who ignore the place suffer as a result, and the place suffers as well.

Mayville, WI   1861    Credit:  Image of  1861 Drawing by
Paul Biersach,  Public Domain   For more on this
drawing contact  Mayville Historical Society, Inc.  

Getting "detailed knowledge of a place" means  that you learn the local stories, the history.  You have to hope that those who take time to learn will be more than dilettantes.  That's where Orr's "sense of care" comes in.   If you care, you will work to improve your city.   This is my take on David Orr's theory of community improvement. His ideas as I have stated them  may sound simplistic,  but they make sense to me, and I see live examples in Mayville.   I  know some solid people here who won't be reading Orr, but who tell  the stories, take pride in the city,  and help out around town just as Orr describes


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