Community Service Project - Medford Downtown History
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Community Service Project - Medford Downtown History
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Purposes
• To provide current owners of downtown businesses with information about the history of their locations from 1874 to the present day.
• To present the information in a format that may be of interest to the general public and may help owners to attract tourists and local customers.
• To foster a partnership between business people and young persons in the community.
• To involve young persons in an in-depth study of local history that may provide them with a sense of ownership in their community and allow them to make a meaningful and positive contribution to it.
• To provide students with an opportunity to do real research with primary sources to get a sense of how historians work.
• To prepare and report findings in some permanent form so that the materials can be used by others in the future and to place the information on file with the local and possibly the state historical societies.
Possible End Products
• Historical brochures for each business place
• Information display on each building that would allow shoppers and visitors to take a "self-guided tour" but also invite them to come inside for more information
• Wall, bulletin board, poster, or window displays
• Scrapbooks
• Photo essays
• Research papers
• Published materials -- booklets, articles in newspapers
• Exhibits in the community -- At the library, in schools, at the Taylor County Historical Society Museum, County Fair, etc.
• Exhibits that can be sent out on loan (Museum trunks)
• Video tapes or computer-based multi media displays
• Drama productions, puppet plays, historical re-enactments, storytelling festivals, events for special downtown festivals
• Games or interactive devices
• Information for a web page
Processes
• Experiencing how the historian works.
• Finding and using what haws already been done.
• Determining what sources are available. Using primary resources.
• Using a time line with local events already identified. Extending such a time line.
• Determining what previous background information and experiences the researchers have.
• Working as a team to search out information. Networking.
• Learning and using good interviewing techniques.
• Letter writing and telephone skills.
• Determining what kinds of questions will yield the most useful information.
• Evaluating and documenting information and checking for accuracy.
• Processing and communicating information and providing for permanent storage.
Helpful Resources
• Primary Resources - Resources
• Sequence Lines or Time Lines
• Service Learning - Resources
Main Street Buildings
Many of the photographs included are part of the Zeit or Dake collections.