By Shannon Combs Bennett, Student

Well I am off to a bang in the Research: Social History course.  Seriously, I don’t want to put it down. There are few things that make me want to consume it in one day.  Thankfully my children reminded me that they need to be  fed and I should probably get dressed the weekend that I started this course.  Yeah, enough about me.

Module 1 was a great introduction to websites, resources, and suggested readings for anyone that is not familiar with researching social history. It was a great refresher for me, as well as introducing me to a few resources I had not heard of before. The section on finding and using historical books was very good. This is a resource that I think many people do not use often enough.  Google Books is awesome.

However, Module 2 is where we started to pick apart different aspects of our ancestor’s lives.  This module concerned “people, family, and society.”  A great topic to start with, huh?

The module covers everything from cultural customs to hobbies.  In the section on children and childhood I agree with the instructor that the study of children is particularly lacking. Looking back at my own family I do not know a lot about my ancestor’s childhoods. A few stories from my great-grandparents have made it to me but as for many of them they are a big black hole until they start creating records of their own.

As I have thought about that more and more over the past few days it made me realize that it is a shame we don’t have more reliable resources on childhood.  Especially to fill in the lives of those members of our extended families who did not make it to adulthood.

Okay, time to hit the books!  See you online!