Learning About Historians

This week, we learned that historians use primary sources such as documents, photographs, and interviews to learn about the past. We had a visit from local historian Deb McCauslin, who played the role of Sarah Cook Myers in a living history performance.

Mrs. McCauslin helped us to understand how historians learn about the past, and shared some of her research with us. If you're interested in reading more about her, you can visit her website:

Gettysburg Histories

Mrs. McCauslin worked to create a historical marker in Bendersville to commemorate the kidnapping of Kitty Payne. Maybe you can visit the marker and see it for yourself--it's right in front of the Elkhorn Inn.

Students as historians

Students are going to become historians. They will be working with primary sources in two different ways. Students have a homework assignment to interview someone about their school experiences. Some students have already completed their interviews and have great stories to share! While these interviews may not be as dramatic as the story of Kitty Payne, they are snapshots of real history.

Another way that we can learn about the past is by analyzing photographs. We can look at the people, objects, and activities in a photo. Then we can use what we have noticed by breaking down the photograph to make some inferences, or good guesses, about the photo.

You can try this at home! The National Apple Museum has a wonderful online collection of local photographs:

Old photographs of Adams County

Try looking at these pictures. What do you notice? What people do you see? What objects are in the picture? What activities are they doing? (It's also fun to look at how places that you know have changed. Check out the picture of Bendersville on this page.)

If you find a picture that you especially like, write down your observations to share with the class. It's your chance to be a historian!