Dig out those town history books, new ways to use them

I bet your town has a history book somewhere. When was the last time young people got to see it?

At the recent Rural Renewal Symposium, two speakers brought up stories of resilience from the past.

• Ron Frantz said Ardmore, Oklahoma, survived 2 major fires, one tornado and a gas explosion all in their first 28 years as a town.
• Raquel Taylor from University of Nebraska–Lincoln shared how the residents of Niobrara, Nebraska, moved the town uphill to escape flooding in the 1920s and again the 1970s. Then their schools–still in the lower elevation–flooded twice in the 2010s.

Dr. Taylor shared three things that helped the people of Niobrara to be resilient:

1. Reflecting and learning from the past by telling stories and creating history books
2. Relationships and a sense of connection
3. Community characteristics and social capital

Those history books are mostly owned and held by people from older generations. Dr. Taylor said kids were fascinated when they saw the history books for the first time, and they wanted to learn more.

Kids can be inspired by the resilience and creativity of the past, but only if they know about it.

Here are a few practical ideas of how to help kids discover them.

Take the book to your schools

Make it an interactive experience, not just a library book on a shelf. Work with your historical society or history buffs to create some kind of session for kids to get involved in the story.

Ask the kids’ help with this next idea…

Share cool stories on social media

Share the photos and stories that help tell the story of your place. Ask kids to share the stories they found most interesting. Use video to have kids tell stories.

Find other local histories: other books, photo collections

Use this as a chance to uncover hidden history records. Your museum, historical society, genealogy group or library may have all these, but now is a great time to dig deep.

Check with churches and other organizations for their own history books. Cook books might have little history sections, too. One from my town was dedicated to a faithful church volunteer and includes some of her biography. Let’s get that back out in the public, too.

Has someone collected oral histories? Let’s mine those for story nuggets, too. Has a university studied your town? Ask for their data!

Tell me your ideas and history wins

I’d love to hear more about your community history books, projects and stories. How are you making it real for kids today?

Photo: That’s me in 1993 presenting a copy of the state history of the Oklahoma Business and Professional Women’s Clubs to Alva’s Librarian Larry Thorne for their Oklahoma collection. Probably taken by my mom Glenna Mae Hendricks.