Teaching Local History

I looked this guy up and found out he was instrumental in designing everything from Los Angeles street lamps to the Hollywood Bowl. Go figure.

Los Angeles has a rich history - though you might not really notice it at first. Funny, but that is sort of a hallmark of historical LA: Angelenos are constantly remaking it - knocking things down that define the city and putting up new things, that - I suppose - redefine it. So teaching the city history, as I do every year for my second semester seniors, is something of a visual puzzle. But of course there is plenty to see if you look (most Angelenos don’t). And I suspect this is the case for pretty much all cities and towns, big and small. Peeling back layers will most certainly reveal things that are not necessarily apparent at first blush.

I encourage all of my teacher friends, colleagues, and readers near and far to give this a shot. A class, a section, even a whole semester on local history can open some interesting doors and give your students the opportunity to understand the familiar in new and interesting ways - what will most certainly reveal connections to larger themes and contexts.

The date of construction stamped on bridge in Santa Monica…a starting point to a much bigger history of the development of the pre-war beach neighborhood in Los Angeles

As for students, I encourage you all to take a peek beneath the surface. Find out who your local park is named for and what they did both locally and beyond to merit such a distinction. Head to the cemetery (I have a strange obsession with cemeteries…and spend waaaay too much time in them just poking around) and look for the most conspicuous headstones. I have learned more things about the creation and evolution of LA from researching the people I found at places like Hollywood Forever Cemetery than I have from anything else (true story). Does your town have a courthouse with public records? I’ll bet it does. There you can find out about churches, schools, businesses, organizations - all sorts of things.

You get the idea. And who knows? Maybe that creepy old dilapidated house in the neighborhood no one goes to anymore actually served an important purpose once upon a time. It might be worth an inquiry at least - and spawn a worthy project connecting your town to the broader sweep of history. Maybe any way - but rest assured, whenever I start digging I find endlessly fascinating connections to historical changes over time. And when I teach it, my students make the personal connections to history, which for what it’s worth, inspires them to think historically.

With compliments,

Keith