Historical records

“ As they stand, it becomes hard to conceive how otherwise, in equally intelligible language, a great historical event could have been commemorated in the everlasting record supplied by clay. They are records, and not mere ornaments. They mirror the first century of America’s life as a nation. ”

“ The general idea of providing a permanent record of historical events in the nation’s history is worthy of universal encouragement, and also of making these records easily accessible for public enlightenment. ”

“ The purpose of the Historical Records Survey, which is being launched in Oregon and throughout the Union, under the Federal Writers Program of the WPA, is to discover, preserve and make accessible the basic materials for research in the history of our country. The survey will embrace, so far as possible, all things of historical value, including public records in the state capitol, county court houses, city halls and town houses, historical and pioneer societies, universities, libraries containing manuscripts of historical value and privately owned collections. ”

“ Over and over again, in the local records, are examples to be found where history is in close contact with tradition, and I am far more inclined to question the evidence which proves the falseness of any authenticated tradition than I am to trust all the statements which do duty for history. ”

“ Then for later periods, no country of the Western world possesses such magnificent materials for history as our own. In the vast quantity of public and private documents which are gradually being made accessible to the student there exists material for the illustration and elucidation of almost every side and every period of national life, and no branch of historical research is more fruitful of results than the comparison of the records of the professed historian with the documents which have not come from the historian's hands. ”

“ These American historians had a different standard. They first consulted all available records to be sure of the facts or events. Then they closely examined the scene in which the event had come to pass, knowing that environment is always a factor in human history. Finally they studied historical personages, not as others had described them but as they revealed themselves in letters, diaries, speeches,—personal records revealing human motives that all men understand, because man is everywhere the same. ”

“ Current local history is as much part of the work of the Society as is the delving into ancient records, and any newspaper clipping or account of any public or private affair that, in the opinion of any member, is of interest to the Society or its work should be promptly sent to the Secretary-General, who will gladly receive, 41index and place it in the archives of the Society, where it may be referred to in a convenient form at any time. ”

“ Every nation has the right to go back as far in its history as it is possible to reach. It can only do this by the help of comparative folklore. In our own country we have seen how history breaks down, and yet historical records in Britain are perhaps the richest in Europe. The traditional materials known to us as folklore are the only means left to us, and we can only properly avail ourselves of these when we have mastered the methods of science which it is necessary to use in their investigation. ”

“ As, however, the earlier civilization lies very much out of the beaten track of history, the place of direct records has to be supplied in great measure by indirect evidence, such as Antiquities, Language, and Mythology. This makes it generally difficult to get a sound historical basis to work on, but there happens to be a quantity of material easily obtainable, which bears on the development of some of the more common and useful arts. ”

“ And in contrast with the myths and fables, the fiction and romance, and the obscured, confused and uncertain accounts and histories of the origin and foundation of the nations of the Old World, these clear-cut, authentic and entirely trust- worthy records of the New World are singularly fascinating, instructive and wholesome. ”

“ The Meaning of History.—History, as it is written and understood, comprises many centuries of human life and achievement, and we must begin our study by discussing a little what history means. Men may live for thousands of years without having a life that may be called historical; for history is formed only where there are credible written records of events. Until we have these records, we have no ground for historical study, but leave the field to another study, which we call Archeology, or Prehistoric Culture. ”

“ All over the country, archives are reuniting citizens with their rights and helping historians research and tell the American story. Through the work of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, we’ve helped fund documentary histories of Americans from Benjamin Franklin to Martin Luther King, from the records of the Florida everglades to the civic history of Los Angeles. ”

“ The abundance of original records, of monographs and works of detail, that have been published within the last fifty years, surpasses by far the grasp of a single mind. To work up their results into a uniform whole demands the application of the cooperative principle—a principle to which we already owe such notable achievements of historical research as the Monumenta Germaniae Historica, our own Rolls Series, and the Dictionary of National Biography. ”

“ THE HISTORIC SITES IN EUGENE AND THEIR MONUMENTS. 1 By JENNIE B. HARRIS. The eternal fitness of things is a law of the universe. Nothing can be found in nature that does not ultimately con- form to this law. The human race, consciously or unconsci- ously, has always lived in obedience to its demands. Follow- ing its dictates, the history of man consists of a collection of important facts which tell of the growth and decay of each people in its turn. These facts we find recorded in various ways. But no historical records impress us more forcibly than monuments of ancient nations. ”

“ It is highly probable that they took the form of inscriptions in temples and upon monuments, and gradually developed into historical and topographical records, preserving local memories, and giving form to local legends. ”

“ Even when the testimony of early writers is accepted, it is accepted without the necessary filling in which such an acceptance warrants. Bare acceptance does not tell us much. Each recorded fact has a relationship to surrounding facts, should lead us to associated facts which, escaping observation by early writers, can nevertheless be restored. In history they are isolated and unconnected, because of the faults of the historian who records them. ”

“ His work as secretary of the Southern Historical Society has been equally valuable, twenty-two volumes of its reports, and many of the otherwise unpublished details of the great civil war have been preserved by him in the society records. ”

“ A large mass of material of great value cannot be described here. It is made up of records primarily of value for constitutional history, charters, writs, laws, and documentary material of all kinds, from which often new facts are obtained for narrative history or light of great value thrown on doubtful points, especially of chronology or of the history of individuals. ”

“ Alongside these two advantages in the situation for the society there must, however, be mentioned a stubborn disadvantage in the form of a strong individualistic or laissez faire attitude among our people discountenancing State support for ac- tivities of the nature of those of a historical society. The warm feeling for the pioneers and for the preservation of pioneer relics and records was, however, strong enough to overcome opposition to State support for an organiza- tion engaged in this line of activity. ”

“ It is presumed that a record of achievements in war,—victories so complete and surprising, gained by our countrymen,—our brothers,—our fellow-citizens in arms,—a record which revives the memory of the brave, and brings their gallant deeds before us, will certainly prove acceptable to the public. ”

“ Another remark is, that these authentic records of early history only begin to appear when civilization is so far advanced as to have established powerful dynasties and priestly organizations. The history of a nation is at first the history of its kings, and its records are 9 enumerations of their genealogies, successive reigns, foundation or repair of temples, great industrial works, and warlike exploits. These are made and preserved by special castes of priestly colleges and learned scribes, and they are to a great extent precise in date and accurate in fact. ”

“ We understand by history a record of events that are past, and that it embraces chronology, biography, manners and customs, statistics, governments, and the rise and fall of kingdoms, nations and empires. ”

“ History, if we define it as the mere transcription of the written records of former generations, can go no farther back than the time such records were first made, no farther than the art of writing. But now that we have come to recognize the great earth itself as a story-book, as a keeper of records buried one beneath the other, confused and half obliterated, yet not wholly beyond our comprehension, now the historian may fairly be allowed to speak of a far earlier day. ”

“ In the eye of the true historian those earliest and those latest records, and the records of the long ages which passed between them, all have, perhaps not all an equal value, but at least value enough to stamp them all as alike parts of the history of the city, all alike entitled to respect and veneration from every one in whose eyes the history of the city is precious. ”

“ They collect the materials from which the great narrative of events is, in due time, to be framed. The transactions of public bodies, local histories, memoirs of all kinds, statistics, laws ordinances, public debates and discussions, works of periodical literature, and the public journals, whether of political events, or commerce, literature, or the arts, all find their places in the collections of historical societies. But these collections are not history; they are only elements of history. History is a higher name, and imports literary productions of the first order. ”

“ In the early annals of a country there is generally a great scarcity of authentic records; and, from a simple dearth of facts, the history of a whole century is compressed, not unfrequently, into a few pages: whereas, in later times, when documentary evidence begins to accumulate, the historians will often spread out the events of two or three years over several chapters. ”

“ Now that data are affixed to our brief historical period, and the occurrences of yesterday, in comparison with the actual history of our land, have settled down into a succession of well-known events, it becomes us to look back into those of long-lost time, and to inquire into the memorials of our country's antiquity ”

“ They are no more matter of historical tradition than any of the thousand other legendary genealogies which men delighted to recall to memory at the periodical festivals of their gens, their deme, or their village. ”

“ Doubtless it is impossible for any one journal to make a complete record of all the books and articles that appear in the field of history, but I believe the record could be made much more complete than it now is ”

“ There are local legends and traditions, household tales, stories told by grandfathers and grandmothers, incidents remembered by 'the oldest inhabitants.' But above all in importance are the old documents and manuscript records of the first settlers, the early pioneers, the founders of our towns. Here are sources of information more authentic than tradition, and yet often entirely neglected. ... In order to study history it is not necessary to begin with dead men's bones, with Theban dynasties, the kings of Assyria, the royal families of Europe, or even with the presidents of the United States. ”

“ One or two generations measure the beginning of real settlement even though the discovery may have reached back a century or more. What is usually regarded as history, is, therefore, within the memory of many now living, and the collection of much of the historical material is easy and more valuable because of the fullness of information obtainable. ”

“ The Annual Report of the American Historical Association is devoted to papers by historians of national fame, to reports of the Public Archives Commission, and to the publication of historical bibliographical enterprises. ”

“ Indeed, a very high authority as good as told the writer in the war records office in Washington that no man's memory is as good as the published record, or entitled to any weight at all when not in entire harmony therewith. ”

“ IMPORTANCE OF GOOD INK.
Astle speaks very impressively and justly on this point; and we contribute to this part of our subject calling attention to facts almost daily occurring or brought to notice in this country, especially in the older cities and states, where town-records, parish-registers, and other documents of ancient date, and of high importance in history, chronology, and genealogy, (as well as in regard to the title and inheritance of estates,) are found obscured and obliterated, causing losses, public and private, that need but to be mentioned to be properly estimated. ”

“ Not only classical histories, but every other description of books which may be expected to throw light upon history, are eagerly demanded. Biographies and Memoirs of Distinguished Men, local Histories, Historical and Topographical accounts of States, Historical Collections, Correspondence of Generals, Commodores, and Statesmen, State papers, and documents of all kinds, old and new, find a ready sale as soon as they are published. ”