Guest post by Grant Thomas
Overall within the realm of historical research one finds the misconception of extreme difficulty when finding sources or the sheer amount of time when wading through boxes of materials or slivers of information. However, this does not have to be the case in the grand scheme of the concept of historical research. I would say that this class aided in making my research mentality far more resilient and allowing for the utilization of more primary sources. One of the more significant aspects of anthropological writing and research is the fact we use secondary sources such as theory or other aspects of the craft with most primary sources being our own notes or field examinations; in contrast to historical research, I found it far more enjoyable working with primary sources as it was the aspect of holding a literal piece of history.
Concerning my own work, I used the online resources through the UWM library archive system when working through not only the Museum pillar exercise, but also greater context for our reenactment. I also would use interviews for the reenactment, as my character was based on my great-grandfather, prompting interviews with my mother, Kara, and grandmother, Carole. These tactics and context would give greater context to our period of study, but also a more integral meaning behind the images and stories which I had been told or shown as a child. When thinking about aspect which were missing, I would say that the more general stories of average people; this idea comes in how we typically save documents from the rungs of power and only have small documentation or family histories to draw on for these actions. Overall, this semester's research was extremely enjoyable and a perfect precursor to further work in the coming semesters moving deeper into my thesis work.
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